Graduation rates for the class of 2025 reached a 15-year high in Illinois, but performance on the ACT exam is below the national average and, compared to before the pandemic, a lot of those students are considered chronically absent, meaning they missed 10% or more of the school year.
Illinois Education Supt. Tony Sanders highlighted the statewide graduation rate of 89%, up from 87.7% last year, on the state report card released Thursday.
He credited the $3 billion in new state funding provided to Illinois schools since 2017 for helping to drive the rates up. School districts, he said, have used this money for various strategies, including providing more Advanced Placement classes and more chances to make up failed classes.
“These opportunities keep students engaged and on track for success,” Sanders said.
Elementary school students also saw improvements on test scores, as measured by growth on the exams, he said. But the state changed the bar that elementary and high school students have to meet to be considered proficient, and officials say previous years test score data should not be compared to this year.
There’s also been a change in the state test used for high school students. In 2016, Illinois switched from the ACT to the SAT and then last year it went back to the ACT. This is the first year with ACT results.
The average Illinois ACT score was 18.1 on English Language Arts and 18.8 on math, which, according to an ACT conversion tool, is about a 970 on the SAT. That’s a little higher than the 950 that students averaged on the SAT last year. But it’s lower than the 20.1 ACT composite score that the Illinois class of 2016 averaged.
Chicago Public Schools, where graduation rates have also climbed, had a particularly low average ACT score. It was 15.1 in English Language Arts and 15.8 in math. That was down from a composite score of 18.4 in 2016.
Nationally, the average ACT composite score was 19.4 this year.
The ACT given now is different from the one pre-2016 and the scores shouldn’t be compared, said Rae Clementz, executive director of data, accountability and assessment for the state board of education. She said the ACT has been re-worked to meet the current learning standards and she’s “not concerned” about the lower scores.
Sanders said the old proficiency standards were among the most challenging in the nation and argued they needed to be adjusted.
Sanders said the prior standards resulted in “the mislabeling of high-achieving, college-ready students as being not proficient.” That included students who were taking Advanced Placement classes and dual credit coursework and enrolling in college, he said.
According to the state’s new standards, just over half of 11th graders are proficient in reading and writing and 39% are proficient in math. That’s much higher than under the old standard and the old test.
Yet, absenteeism remains high, even if it’s improved in each of the last three years. About 25% of all Illinois students missed at least 10% of last school year, up from 17.5% in 2019, before the pandemic.
Absenteeism is most acute among high schoolers. In Illinois, 34% of high school students were considered chronically absent. In CPS, it’s almost 50%.
Research has shown a direct relationship between school attendance and learning. But Sanders said he doesn’t think students are getting diplomas without being prepared for college or careers. He pointed out that fewer community college students take remedial classes than a decade ago.
“Our data suggests our students are faring really well,” he said. “They are graduating because they are ready to graduate.”
CPS officials said the district has “more work to do” when it comes to reducing absenteeism and increasing ACT scores. But they pointed to rising numbers of students who stay enrolled in college past the first year as evidence that their graduates can be successful as they continue their education.
CPS has seen a small one percentage point drop-off in the share of high school graduates enrolling in college, said Megan Hougard, CPS chief of college and career success.
She attributed this to a number of factors, including technical problems with the federal financial aid form and fears among mixed-status families that filling out financial aid forms could make them targets for immigration enforcement.
Unlike the state, CPS re-calculated past proficiency rates to conform to the new state standards so they could be compared. After seeing impressive post-pandemic gains, elementary school proficiency rates were stable this year, with 40.6% proficient in reading and 26.2% in math. That’s more than 10 points below the state average in both subjects.
CPS interim CEO/Supt. Macquline King noted that CPS has more low-income students and students with disabilities and children learning English than the rest of the state. She said that makes CPS’ performance impressive.
“If we want our students to learn, their primary needs have to be addressed by our schools,” King said. “We are the ones filling the gap. We provide access to food, health care, counseling, help with benefits, safe havens for students, after-school programming and so much more.”
At the same time, schools need to fulfill their mission of educating students, she said.