Prairie Ridge High School Principal Dr. Steve Koch (2023) | Prairie Ridge High School
Prairie Ridge High School Principal Dr. Steve Koch (2023) | Prairie Ridge High School
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, 70.5% of McHenry County's 3,561 public high school students—approximately 2,510 students—failed the math 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 (98.3%), Marengo High School (77.2%), and Woodstock North High School (76.1%) had the highest failure rate in McHenry County, and Cary-Grove Community High School (63%) and Prairie Ridge High School had the lowest (60.7%).
No high school in McHenry County had a student passing rate exceeding 50%.
Countywide, math test failure rates rose from 67.4% in the 2022-23 school year to 70.5% in the 2023-24 school year.
Failure rates increased at eight McHenry County high schools in the 2023-24 school year, with the most significant increase happening at Richmond-Burton High School, where the rate jumped from 57.2% to 70.7%.
Statewide, failure rates were highest in Bureau County, Christian County, Gallatin County, Schuyler County, and Hamilton County, where the percentage of students who failed the math exam were 82.4%, 91.6%, 93.4%, 93.6%, and 95.2%, respectively.
Woodstock High School and Crystal Lake South High School were the only McHenry County high schools that saw math scores improve between the 2022-23 school year and the 2023-24 school year.
Data shows that 73.7% of Illinois students failed the 2023-24 school year state math exam, up from 73% 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 | Failure Rate in 2023-24 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Harvard High School | 183 | 91.6% | 98.3% |
| Marengo High School | 184 | 72.7% | 77.2% |
| Woodstock North High School | 234 | 71% | 76.1% |
| Harry D. Jacobs High School | 498 | 65% | 75.5% |
| Johnsburg High School | 122 | 66.7% | 75.4% |
| Crystal Lake South High School | 309 | 73.9% | 71.5% |
| Richmond-Burton High School | 123 | 57.2% | 70.7% |
| Woodstock High School | 248 | 71.7% | 67.3% |
| Crystal Lake Central High School | 367 | 69% | 66.8% |
| Huntley High School | 687 | 65.2% | 65.4% |
| Cary-Grove Community High School | 319 | 60.2% | 63% |
| Prairie Ridge High School | 287 | 58.7% | 60.7% |
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