Tens of thousands more K-12 students in South Cook County are now testing below grade level in English and math, suffering the aftereffects of Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker's school lockdowns, according to an analysis of Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) test data by South Cook News.
All but one of the 53 school districts reviewed showed significant student declines in scores for tests taken in 2021, versus 2019, before Pritzker barred students from attending classes.
Districts seeing the greatest declines included:
--Indian Springs School District 109, which saw test failure rates of 20% in math (from 66% to 83%) and 23% in English (from 54% to 71%).
--Matteson Elementary School District 162, which saw test failure rates of 17% in math (from 74% to 89%) and 25% in English (from 61% to 82%).
--North Palos School District 117, which saw test failure rates of 30% in math (from 39% to 55%) and 15% in English (from 35% to 41%).
--Oak Lawn-Hometown School District 123, which saw test failure rates of 21% in math (from 66% to 84%) and 21% in English (from 60% to 76)).
The COVID-19 pandemic had “devastating” impacts on student learning, according to a report from the Brookings Institute.
“These numbers are alarming and potentially demoralizing, especially given the heroic efforts of students to learn and educators to teach in incredibly trying times,” the report said. “There is much work to be done, and the challenges for students, educators and parents are considerable.”
A report from Illinois Policy found while all students were affected by the pandemic, low-income and minority students saw the biggest losses in their proficiency scores.
“Among low-income high school juniors in 2021, under 16% scored at proficiency level in reading and fewer than 13% were proficient in math," the report said. "This represents a nearly 15% and 25% overall proficiency decline since 2019 in each subject. Comparatively, proficiency scores in reading and math for higher-income juniors dropped around 11% and 16%, respectively.
“By the end of the 2021 school year, higher-income juniors were almost three times more likely to be proficient than low-income students.”
There are many lingering effects of students learning less due to disruptions caused by COVID-19. A McKinsey report found K-12 students were “on average five months behind in mathematics and four months behind in reading by the end of school year.”
The switch to remote learning, where students would attend classes virtually using their laptops instead of being in the classroom, was often pinpointed in reports as the biggest reason for diminishing student proficiency.
Classrooms across the U.S. moved to remote learning when the pandemic began in early 2020. However, an Inside Higher Ed investigation found it was never designed to be the long-term solution it became.
“Students talked a lot about really missing being in person with their classmates … and having those spontaneous, organic conversations and relationships,” Rayane Alamuddin of Ithaka S+R consulting said. “They miss the relationships they make in school because not only does it make them excited about learning and motivate them to stay engaged in school, but they also actually learn a lot more.”
Many school districts have returned to in-class learning, though still with some COVID-19 precautions in place.
| District | 2019 Math Failing Rates | 2021 Math Failing Rates | 2019 English Failing Rates | 2021 English Failing Rates |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alsip-Hazelgreen-Oaklawn School District 126 | 73.9% | 88.3% | 60.9% | 72.9% |
| Arbor Park School District 145 | 76.9% | 89.1% | 64.3% | 79.9% |
| Atwood Heights School District 125 | 77.9% | 88.7% | 62% | 74.6% |
| Brookwood School District 167 | 87.8% | 96.2% | 73.7% | 85.6% |
| Burbank School District 111 | 74.3% | 88% | 67.6% | 84% |
| Burnham School District 154-5 | 92% | 99.9% | 86.4% | 90.8% |
| Calumet City School District 155 | 89.6% | 94.5% | 87.1% | 92% |
| Calumet Public School District 132 | 90.5% | 96.9% | 77.8% | 87.1% |
| Chicago Heights School District 170 | 89.3% | 90.5% | 77.9% | 78.6% |
| Chicago Ridge School District 127-5 | 84.7% | 86.8% | 78.4% | 82.7% |
| Community Consolidated School District 146 | 65.5% | 75.9% | 54.3% | 64.5% |
| Community Consolidated School District 168 | 95.7% | 97.5% | 90.6% | 94.9% |
| Cook County School District 130 | 85% | 95% | 71.8% | 87.7% |
| Country Club Hills School District 160 | 89.3% | 96.1% | 79.6% | 90.7% |
| Dolton School District 148 | 95.1% | 97.9% | 89.8% | 92.4% |
| Dolton School District 149 | 95.2% | 98.8% | 87.3% | 91.7% |
| Elementary School District 159 | 82.6% | 91.9% | 67.1% | 84.4% |
| Evergreen Park Elementary School District 124 | 67.7% | 77.6% | 56.8% | 67.6% |
| Flossmoor School District 161 | 66.6% | 77.6% | 58.5% | 72.6% |
| Ford Heights School District 169 | 79.5% | 98.8% | 84.4% | 97.2% |
| Forest Ridge School District 142 | 69.5% | 78.7% | 56.8% | 70.1% |
| General George Patton School District 133 | 95.2% | 100% | 83.8% | 96.7% |
| Harvey School District 152 | 88% | 97.1% | 81.5% | 89.5% |
| Hazel Crest School District 152-5 | 94.4% | 98.6% | 87.2% | 94.2% |
| Homewood School District 153 | 75.4% | 80.8% | 63.3% | 71.9% |
| Hoover-Schrum Memorial School District 157 | 95.5% | 96.5% | 82.3% | 90.2% |
| Indian Springs School District 109 | 66.1% | 82.9% | 54.3% | 70.8% |
| Kirby School District 140 | 53.9% | 59.5% | 46.7% | 61.7% |
| Lansing School District 158 | 81.8% | 92.1% | 69.8% | 79.8% |
| Lemont-Bromberek Combined School District 113A | 49% | 55.8% | 46.4% | 54.4% |
| Lincoln Elementary School District 156 | 85.3% | 93.8% | 73.2% | 85.9% |
| Matteson Elementary School District 162 | 74.1% | 88.8% | 61.3% | 81.8% |
| Midlothian School District 143 | 88.3% | 95.1% | 83.2% | 87.3% |
| North Palos School District 117 | 38.7% | 55.2% | 34.5% | 40.7% |
| Oak Lawn-Hometown School District 123 | 65.6% | 83.5% | 59.7% | 75.7% |
| Orland School District 135 | 59.7% | 68.1% | 45.7% | 54.8% |
| Palos Community Consolidated School District 118 | 45.9% | 53.7% | 35.8% | 42.8% |
| Palos Heights School District 128 | 50.9% | 63.2% | 41.1% | 50.3% |
| Park Forest School District 163 | 84.4% | 96.5% | 72% | 90.8% |
| Pleasantdale School District 107 | 41.6% | 43.4% | 39.5% | 41.8% |
| Posen-Robbins Elementary School District 143-5 | 85.5% | 95.2% | 77.5% | 88.1% |
| Prairie-Hills Elementary School District 144 | 84% | 92.5% | 76.3% | 88.4% |
| Ridgeland School District 122 | 71.4% | 85.8% | 63.3% | 77.1% |
| Rutland Community Consolidated School District 230 | 66% | 64.3% | 61.7% | 53.3% |
| Sandridge School District 172 | 86.4% | 98.7% | 83.5% | 96.4% |
| South Holland School District 150 | 80.1% | 92.9% | 70.8% | 89.8% |
| South Holland School District 151 | 86.5% | 96% | 86.4% | 92.5% |
| Summit School District 104 | 80.6% | 91.3% | 72% | 88.4% |
| Sunnybrook School District 171 | 83.7% | 96% | 54.8% | 76.4% |
| Thornton School District 154 | 76.1% | 88% | 61.9% | 82.9% |
| West Harvey-Dixmoor Public School District 147 | 95% | 97.7% | 91% | 96.1% |
| Willow Springs School District 108 | 72.2% | 84.4% | 61.9% | 75% |
| Worth School District 127 | 73.8% | 83.4% | 63.6% | 75.7% |
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