Grundy Reporter

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

ISBE reports that last year, 48.5% of Grundy County's 4,961 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.

Braceville Elementary School (60.3%), Minooka Junior High School (57.7%) and Minooka Intermediate School (57.3%) had the highest failure rates in Grundy County. Meanwhile, Coal City Intermediate School (30.4%) and Coal City Middle School (23.8%) had the lowest.

Of 16 Grundy County high schools, eight, including Gardner Elementary School, Nettle Creek Elementary School, and Aux Sable Elementary School had passing rates of more than 50%.

Countywide, English test failure rates fell from 50.8% in 2021 to 48.5% in 2023.

The failure rate rose in two Grundy County high schools in 2023, with the most significant increase happening at South Wilmington Grade School (54.9%).

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%).

Braceville Elementary School, Minooka Intermediate School, Coal City Intermediate School, and Coal City Middle School were the Grundy 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
Braceville Elementary School	78	69.8%	69.5%	60.3%
Minooka Junior High School	1025	49.3%	57.8%	57.7%
Minooka Intermediate School	984	61.3%	58.7%	57.3%
Shabbona Middle School	313	53.2%	57.2%	56.9%
Mazon-Verona-Kinsman Elementary School	66	63.2%	48.5%	56.1%
South Wilmington Grade School	51	58.6%	45.3%	54.9%
Mazon-Verona-Kinsman Middle School	144	57.5%	64%	50.7%
White Oak Elementary	349	59.1%	59.9%	50.7%
Gardner Elementary School	86	61.1%	62.9%	48.8%
Nettle Creek Elementary School	54	47.6%	51.6%	48.1%
Aux Sable Elementary School	249	56.8%	57%	47.8%
Minooka Elementary School	203	52.1%	46.3%	46.3%
Coal City Elementary School	135	52.5%	56.1%	42.3%
Saratoga Elementary School	462	38.5%	39.4%	37.2%
Coal City Intermediate School	286	36.5%	33.2%	30.4%
Coal City Middle School	476	36.9%	29.8%	23.8%