75.6% of Adams County students not ready for college based on English performance in on 2023-24 SAT

Unity High School Principal Mr. Joshua Arnsman (2023) | Unity High School

By Quincy Reporter

Dec 16, 2024

Nearly 8 in 10 Adams County public students aren't at grade level based on their performance in the English portion of the 2023-24 SAT.

That's according to an analysis from Quincy Reporter of test scores compiled by the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE).

ISBE reports that in the 2023-24 school year, 75.6% of Adams County's 599 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.

Seymour High School had the highest failure rates in Adams County in the 2023-24 school year (82.9%). Meanwhile, Central High School had the lowest (65.2%).

Countywide, English test failure rates rose from 73.4% in the 2022-23 school year to 75.6% in the 2023-24 school year.

The failure rate rose in four Adams County high schools in the 2023-24 school year, with the most significant increase happening at Unity High School, where the failure rate rose by 3.7%, reaching 74.4% overall.

Data shows that the largest growth in failure rates occurred in Vermilion County, which increased by 20.8% to 89.7%; Clark County, which grew by 22% to 89.3%; Kendall County, which increased by 24.1% to 89.4%; Fayette County, which grew by 24.6% to 91.2%; and Shelby County, which increased by 27.3% to 92.3%.

Liberty High School was the only Adams County high school to see improvements between the 2022-23 and 2023-24 school years.

Statewide, 67.7% of Illinois students failed the 2023-24 school year state English exam, down from 68.4% in the 2022-23 school year.

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."

ELA Failure Rates in Adams County High Schools in the 2023-24 School Year

High School	Student Count	Failure Rate in 2022-23 School Year	Failure Rate in 2023-24 School Year
Seymour High School	41	79.3%	82.9%
Quincy Senior High School	429	75%	76.5%
Unity High School	43	70.7%	74.4%
Liberty High School	43	74.1%	72.1%
Central High School	43	61.6%	65.2%