SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) — A new report shows Illinois educational attainment continues to rise, and the state's schools weathered pandemic challenges better than other states. Although academic proficiency remains very low, equity gaps persist for students across the state.
Nonprofit education policy group Advance Illinois announced Wednesday that Kindergarten readiness is improving, but gaps widened from 2018 to 2023 for English learners, by family income, and type of disability. Only a third of early childhood students show readiness in language and literacy, math and social-emotional skills.
Illinois remains one of the country's leaders in academic growth between third and eighth grade, yet proficiency is stagnant for about a third of the student population.
"Fourth grade reading, we are at 30%," said Advance Illinois President Robin Steans. "And eighth grade math, we're at 32%. That's about where we were 15 years ago. We were getting better. We were climbing up, and COVID knocked us back."
Steans said K-12 evidence-based funding is helping make a difference as Illinois performs well on per-student funding, student-to-teacher ratios in elementary school, and students taking AP exams. Illinois is also excelling at helping students finish high school, improving the number of students on track for ninth grade and graduation rates.
However, the state did not reach the goal of 60% of Illinoisans obtaining a college degree. Advance Illinois said there is steady improvement with higher completion rates and overall attainment. Still, college and career readiness measured by the ACT and SAT has been dropping since 2015.
"We are down to 30% of our students from a high of 38% of our students demonstrating college and career readiness," Steans explained. "That's mirroring national trends, but it's obviously not where we want it to be."
The percentage of students immediately enrolling in higher education fell during the pandemic and has not rebounded.
Chronic absenteeism also remains high, as researchers found that student mental health and wellness are worsening. Advance Illinois reported 77% of Illinois youth have gone through an adverse childhood experience, and more K-12 students feel sad or hopeless.
"When I think about mental health, and I think of safe schoolgrounds, I think of trauma," said Senate Majority Leader Kimberly Lightford (D-Maywood). "I think of all of it as one full wraparound service that needs to be addressed. That's something we've been looking at significantly."
Advance Illinois also said affordability continues to be a barrier for families to access childcare and college. The organization states Black and Latino families are disproportionately taking on higher financial burdens to send kids to daycare and higher education institutions.
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