Quincy Reporter

Nearly 5 in 10 Adams 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 Quincy Reporter analysis of test score data compiled by the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE).

ISBE reports that last year, 48.2% of Adams County's 3,673 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.

Unity Elementary School (62.5%), Central 3-4 Middle School (56.3%) and Liberty Elementary School (52.6%) had the highest failure rates in Adams County. Meanwhile, Unity Middle School (42.2%) and Liberty High School (31.4%) had the lowest.

Of 14 Adams County high schools, eight, including Quincy Junior High School, Central Junior High School, and Sarah Atwater Denman Elementary School Site 2 had passing rates of more than 50%.

Countywide, English test failure rates fell from 50.4% in 2021 to 48.2% in 2023.

The failure rate rose in four Adams County high schools in 2023, with the most significant increase happening at Unity Elementary School (62.5%).

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%).

Seymour High School, Central Junior High School, Unity Middle School, and Liberty High School were the Adams County high schools to see improvements between 2021 and 2023.

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
Unity Elementary School	104	51.6%	51.1%	62.5%
Central 3-4 Middle School	103	62.5%	55%	56.3%
Liberty Elementary School	177	49.1%	52.7%	52.6%
Seymour High School	72	57.8%	55%	51.4%
Thomas S. Baldwin Elementary School Site 2	275	50%	42.2%	50.5%
Seymour Elementary School	133	56.5%	57.5%	50.4%
Quincy Junior High School	1273	50%	52.5%	49.9%
Central Junior High School	241	62.9%	57.4%	47.3%
Sarah Atwater Denman Elementary School Site 2	253	44.4%	42.7%	46.3%
Colonel George Iles Elementary School	261	43.3%	48.1%	45.6%
Lincoln-Douglas Elementary School	287	44.1%	44.9%	44.2%
Dr. Abby Fox Rooney Elementary School	221	44.1%	48.5%	43%
Unity Middle School	187	54.5%	51.2%	42.2%
Liberty High School	86	44.9%	40%	31.4%