North Egypt News

More than 5 in 10 Franklin 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 North Egypt News analysis of test score data compiled by the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE).

ISBE reports that last year, 51.4% of Franklin County's 2,324 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.

Zeigler-Royalton Junior High School (72.2%), Thompsonville Grade School (60.5%) and Benton Grade School K-4 (55.8%) had the highest failure rates in Franklin County. Meanwhile, Ewing-Northern Elementary School (37.7%) and Akin Community Consolidated Elementary School (37.3%) had the lowest.

Of 12 Franklin County high schools, four, including Benton Grade School 5-8, Sesser-Valier Elementary School, and Ewing-Northern Elementary School had passing rates of more than 50%.

Countywide, English test failure rates fell from 54.3% in 2021 to 51.4% in 2023.

The failure rate rose in five Franklin County high schools in 2023, with the most significant increase happening at Sesser-Valier Junior High School (55.7%).

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%).

Frankfort Intermediate School, Sesser-Valier Elementary School, Ewing-Northern Elementary School, and Akin Community Consolidated Elementary School were the Franklin 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
Zeigler-Royalton Junior High School	108	60%	63.4%	72.2%
Thompsonville Grade School	129	48.6%	58.1%	60.5%
Benton Grade School K-4	206	55.2%	50.5%	55.8%
Sesser-Valier Junior High School	131	52.8%	45.8%	55.7%
Frankfort Intermediate School	408	57.7%	56.4%	54%
Central Junior High School	213	52.5%	54.9%	52.5%
Zeigler-Royalton Elementary School	96	51.6%	59.4%	51.1%
Christopher Elementary School	286	52.1%	47%	50%
Benton Grade School 5-8	449	56.3%	65.4%	47.4%
Sesser-Valier Elementary School	117	59.2%	56.7%	38.5%
Ewing-Northern Elementary School	130	47.1%	44.7%	37.7%
Akin Community Consolidated Elementary School	51	44.3%	43.6%	37.3%