McHenry Times

More than 6 in 10 McHenry 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 McHenry Times of test scores compiled by the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE).

ISBE reports that in the 2023-24 school year, 62.9% of McHenry County's 3,568 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.

Harvard High School (89%), Marengo High School (75%) and Woodstock North High School had the highest failure rates in McHenry County in the 2023-24 school year (71.8%). Meanwhile, Prairie Ridge High School (54.7%) and Cary-Grove Community High School (51.1%) had the lowest.

Countywide, English test failure rates rose from 60.4% in the 2022-23 school year to 62.9% in the 2023-24 school year.

The failure rate rose in eight McHenry County high schools in the 2023-24 school year, with the most significant increase happening at Harry D. Jacobs High School, where the failure rate rose by 11.5%, reaching 67.1% 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%.

Crystal Lake Central High School, Crystal Lake South High School, Richmond-Burton High School, and Cary-Grove Community High School were the McHenry County high schools 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."

High School	Student Count	Failure Rate in 2022-23 School Year	Failure Rate in 2023-24 School Year
Harvard High School	183	87.9%	89%
Marengo High School	184	70.5%	75%
Woodstock North High School	234	67.3%	71.8%
Johnsburg High School	122	65.2%	70.5%
Harry D. Jacobs High School	502	55.6%	67.1%
Woodstock High School	248	58.9%	63.3%
Crystal Lake Central High School	368	63.8%	63%
Crystal Lake South High School	311	66.1%	59.8%
Richmond-Burton High School	123	60.2%	59.4%
Huntley High School	687	54.1%	56.2%
Prairie Ridge High School	287	53.7%	54.7%
Cary-Grove Community High School	319	54.4%	51.1%