That's according to a Metro East Sun analysis of 2022 test score data compiled by the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE).
ISBE reports that last year, 72.7 percent of St. Clair County's 2,633 public high school students failed the Math 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.
East St. Louis Senior High School (99.5 percent), Cahokia High School (99.3 percent), and Lebanon High School (96.1 percent) had the highest failure rates in St. Clair County. O'Fallon High School (60 percent) and Mascoutah High School (48.2 percent) had the lowest.
Of 12 St. Clair County high schools, only one school -- Mascoutah High School had passing rates of more than 50 percent.
County-wide, Math test failure rates rose from 66.4 percent in 2019 to 72.7 percent in 2022.
The failure rate increased at nine St. Clair County high schools in 2022, with the most significant increase happening at Dupo High School (92.7 percent).
Failure rates rose the most in Coles County (82.7 percent), Mercer County (83.5 percent), Pope County (89.8 percent), Union County (91.3 percent), and Henderson County (92.2 percent).
New Athens High School and Southern Illinois University Charter School of East St. Louis were the only St. Clair County high schools to see Math scores improve between 2019 and 2022.
Statewide, 70 percent of Illinois students failed the 2022 state Math exam, up from 64 percent in 2019.
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 | # of Students | Failing % in 2019 | Failing % in 2021 | Failing % in 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| East St. Louis Senior High School | 228 | 98.9% | 100% | 99.5% |
| Cahokia High School | 130 | 98.6% | 94.3% | 99.3% |
| Lebanon High School | 26 | 82.8% | 95% | 96.1% |
| Dupo High School | 55 | 75% | 86.2% | 92.7% |
| Southern Illinois University Charter School of East St. Louis | 24 | 94.3% | 95.7% | 91.6% |
| New Athens High School | 31 | 91.1% | 93.8% | 87.1% |
| Belleville West High School | 494 | 73.9% | 81.2% | 80.1% |
| Belleville East High School | 573 | 67.2% | 76.8% | 73.6% |
| Marissa Junior and Senior High School | 38 | 70.8% | 80% | 71.1% |
| Freeburg Community High School | 146 | 46.5% | 70.8% | 61.6% |
| O'Fallon High School | 593 | 45.4% | 67.6% | 60% |
| Mascoutah High School | 295 | 46.2% | 60.6% | 48.2% |
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