Rock Island Today

More than 5 in 10 Henry County public students aren't at grade level based on their performance in the English portion of the 2023 SAT.

That's according to a Rock Island Today analysis of test score data compiled by the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE).

ISBE reports that last year, 50.3% of Henry County's 3,353 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.

Northside Elementary School (62%), Millikin Elementary School (61%) and Colona Grade School (59.6%) had the highest failure rates in Henry County. Meanwhile, Cambridge Community Grade School (36.6%) and Central Junior High School (32.8%) had the lowest.

Of 19 Henry County high schools, eight, including Annawan Grade School, Galva Junior/Senior High School, and C.R. Hanna Elementary School had passing rates of more than 50%.

Countywide, English test failure rates fell from 56.1% in 2021 to 50.3% in 2023.

The failure rate rose in seven Henry County high schools in 2023, with the most significant increase happening at Millikin Elementary School (61%).

Data shows that the highest failure rates growths were seen in Christian County (72.5%), Hancock County (73.8%), Cook County (74.1%), White County (74.1%), and Morgan County (76.7%).

Statewide, 39.9% of Illinois students failed the 2023 state English exam, down from 64% 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 2021	Failing % in 2022	Failing % in 2023
Northside Elementary School	129	65.3%	52.8%	62%
Millikin Elementary School	182	53.3%	45.7%	61%
Colona Grade School	235	55%	55.2%	59.6%
Cambridge Junior/Senior High School	95	63.5%	60.9%	58.9%
Alwood Middle/High School	69	64.5%	57.7%	56.5%
Central Elementary School	335	58.5%	57.4%	55.8%
Alwood Elementary School	89	54.3%	58.8%	53.9%
Geneseo Middle School	582	65.8%	58.8%	52.9%
Wethersfield Elementary School	140	58.5%	59.6%	51.4%
Southwest Elementary School	187	51.9%	53.1%	50.8%
Galva Elementary School	115	65.6%	62.6%	50.4%
Annawan Grade School	137	59.8%	57.6%	48.2%
Galva Junior/Senior High School	77	58.4%	63.1%	48.1%
C.R. Hanna Elementary School	229	52%	44.7%	46.3%
Wethersfield Junior/Senior High School	79	37.9%	41.7%	43%
Irving Elementary School	110	43.5%	42.8%	40.9%
Orion Middle School	221	44.8%	35.7%	40.2%
Cambridge Community Grade School	101	44.3%	35.3%	36.6%
Central Junior High School	241	48.1%	45.9%	32.8%