South Central Reporter

Nearly 8 in 10 Christian 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 South Central Reporter of test scores compiled by the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE).

ISBE reports that in the 2023-24 school year, 76.2% of Christian County's 345 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.

South Fork Junior Senior High School had the highest failure rates in Christian County in the 2023-24 school year (100.1%). Meanwhile, Taylorville Senior High School had the lowest (71.7%).

Countywide, English test failure rates rose from 72.7% in the 2022-23 school year to 76.2% in the 2023-24 school year.

The failure rate rose in four Christian County high schools in the 2023-24 school year, with the most significant increase happening at Edinburg High School, where the failure rate rose by 32.8%, reaching 94.4% 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%.

Morrisonville High School was the only Christian County high school to see 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."

High School	Student Count	Failure Rate in 2022-23 School Year	Failure Rate in 2023-24 School Year
South Fork Junior Senior High School	16	95%	100.1%
Edinburg High School	18	61.6%	94.4%
Pana Senior High School	88	70.9%	78.4%
Morrisonville High School	18	82.6%	77.8%
Taylorville Senior High School	205	70.5%	71.7%