DECAUTUR, Ill (WAND) - A study by the Horace Mann foundation found 75% percent of students in Illinois are anywhere from 1-12 months behind in academic progress.

"You also have to become concerned about the mental health, you know, of those students, and what are they doing if they're not in class?" said Katie Hageman of Horace Mann. 

In Illinois, a state where classes have been virtual 25% percent more than nationally, the gap between academically strong and struggling students is just getting bigger.

"We are starting to see what they're calling the COVID-19 slide with those students were students that might be on the brink of moving forward or sliding backwards," Hageman said.

\And locally, numbers are proving that to be true. 

In a document obtained by a Freedom of Information Act request, WAND found that MacArthur and Eisenhower high schools both have more than 400 students each who earned a 1.9 GPA or less.

"Colleges are obviously having to reevaluate standardized testing and how they're accepting those students," said Hageman. 

And as far as attendance, DPS reports about 92% of students have been present in at least half of classes;

"They're dealing with a whole different level of technology challenges, as far as tracking attendance, because is there really an internet issue? Or is it a student who just really is not engaged? Or is not learning?" Hageman said. 

It's affecting students mental health as well.

"For some of these students, that teacher is their coach, it's their mentor," Hageman said. 

That gap is what school districts are working on, making sure every student is catching up.