Analysis: 75.4% of students in Jackson County schools failed English exam in 2023-24 school year

Carbondale Community High School Principal Mr. Ryan Thomas (2023) | Carbondale Community High School

By Carbondale Reporter

Dec 16, 2024

Nearly 8 in 10 Jackson County public students aren't at grade level based on their performance in the English portion of the 2023-24 SAT.

That's according to an analysis from Carbondale Reporter of test scores compiled by the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE).

ISBE reports that in the 2023-24 school year, 75.4% of Jackson County's 411 public high school students failed the ELA portion of the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) and have "minimal (or) incomplete understanding of the knowledge and skills relative to Illinois Learning Standards."

Students can achieve four proficiencies in their subjects: partially met, approaching, meets, and exceeds standards. This report concludes students who partially met or approached the standards have failed in the subject.

Murphysboro High School (82%) had the highest failure rates in Jackson County in the 2023-24 school year. Meanwhile, Carbondale Community High School (71%) had the lowest.

Countywide, English test failure rates rose from 73.2% in the 2022-23 school year to 75.4% in the 2023-24 school year.

The failure rate rose in four Jackson County high schools in the 2023-24 school year, with the most significant increase happening at Elverado High School, where the failure rate rose by 7%, reaching 78.9% overall.

Data shows that the largest growth in failure rates occurred in Vermilion County, which increased by 20.8% to 89.7%; Clark County, which grew by 22% to 89.3%; Kendall County, which increased by 24.1% to 89.4%; Fayette County, which grew by 24.6% to 91.2%; and Shelby County, which increased by 27.3% to 92.3%.

No high schools in the county saw improvements between the 2022-23 and 2023-24 school years.

Statewide, 67.7% of Illinois students failed the 2023-24 school year state English exam, down from 68.4% in the 2022-23 school year.

The SAT test is administered to Illinois high school sophomores "to fulfill the requirement that students take an assessment for college and career readiness in order to receive a regular high school diploma."

ELA Failure Rates in Jackson County High Schools in the 2023-24 School Year