How many Cass County students failed their Math exams in 2022?

By West Central Reporter

Mar 19, 2023

Nearly 9 in 10 Cass County public high school students aren't at grade level in Math.

That's according to a West Central Reporter analysis of 2022 test score data compiled by the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE).

ISBE reports that last year, 86.3 percent of Cass County's 139 public high school 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.

Out of the three Cass County schools, Beardstown Junior/Senior High School (92.6 percent) had the highest failure rate in the county. A-C Central High School (66.6 percent) had the lowest.

No Cass County high schools had a passing rate of more than 50 percent of students.

County-wide, Math test failure rates fell from 89.1 percent in 2019 to 86.3 percent in 2022.

The failure rate increased at Beardstown Junior/Senior High School in 2022, from 91.1 percent to 92.6 percent.

Failure rates rose the most in Coles County (82.7 percent), Mercer County (83.5 percent), Pope County (89.8 percent), Union County (91.3 percent), and Henderson County (92.2 percent).

Virginia Junior and Senior High School and A-C Central High School were the only Cass County high schools to see Math scores improve between 2019 and 2022.

Statewide, 70 percent of Illinois students failed the 2022 state Math exam, up from 64 percent 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.”

Math Failure Rates in Cass County High Schools in 2022