Despite dismal student performance on annual exams covering math and reading, Quad Cities-area high school graduation rates remain high, according to a Rock Island Today analysis of 2016 data from the Illinois State Board of Education.
Of the 15 schools analyzed in Rock Island, Mercer and Henry counties, Geneseo High School showed the greatest disparity. In a year when 97 percent of seniors graduated on time, just 12 percent of students actually passed annual tests that the state uses to determine who is "ready for the next level."
The end-of-year tests known as the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, or PARCC, are administered to third- through eighth-graders in Illinois, testing them based on Common Core standards. High-schoolers also took the tests through 2016.
A composite score combines the results of the subject tests. Students whose scores either meet or exceed expectations are considered "ready for the next level."
Schools' graduation fraud index shows the difference between the composite passing rate and the graduation rate.
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Graduation fraud index
| Quad Cities high school | School district | City | Annual exam pass rate (%) | Graduation rate (%) | Graduation fraud index |
| Geneseo High School | Geneseo Cusd 228 | Geneseo | 11.9 | 96.6 | -84.7 |
| United Township High School | United Twp Hsd 30 | East Moline | 19.5 | 92.2 | -72.7 |
| Moline Sr High School | Moline-Coal Valley Cusd 40 | Moline | 19.6 | 92.2 | -72.6 |
| Rockridge High School | Rockridge Cusd 300 | Taylor Ridge | 24.5 | 95.7 | -71.2 |
| Annawan High School | Annawan Cusd 226 | Annawan | 29.1 | 100 | -70.9 |
| Rock Island High School | Rock Island Sd 41 | Rock Island | 9.7 | 79.6 | -69.9 |
| Kewanee High School | Kewanee Cusd 229 | Kewanee | 8.4 | 76.8 | -68.4 |
| Wethersfield Jr/Sr High School | Wethersfield Cusd 230 | Kewanee | 24 | 88.7 | -64.7 |
| Galva Jr-Sr High School | Galva Cusd 224 | Galva | 22.7 | 86 | -63.3 |
| Cambridge Jr/Sr High School | Cambridge Cusd 227 | Cambridge | 34.1 | 97 | -62.9 |
| Sherrard High School | Sherrard Cusd 200 | Sherrard | 29.4 | 90 | -60.6 |
| Riverdale Sr High School | Riverdale Cusd 100 | Port Byron | 36.1 | 88.3 | -52.2 |
| Mercer County High School | Mercer County School District 404 | Aledo | 32.5 | 80.4 | -47.9 |
| Alwood Middle/High School | Alwood Cusd 225 | Woodhull | 49.1 | 90.6 | -41.5 |
| Orion High School | Orion Cusd 223 | Orion | 47.8 | 0 | 47.8 |
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