Lake County Gazette

Tens of thousands more K-12 students in Lake 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 the Lake County Gazette.

All but one of the 37 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:

--Deerfield School District 109, which saw test failure rates of 31% in math (from 26% to 38%) and 44% in English (from 21% to 37%).

--Aptakisic-Tripp Community Consolidated School District 102, which saw test failure rates of 22% in math (from 32% to 41%) and 33% in English (from 30% to 45%).

--Kildeer Countryside Community Consolidated School District 96, which saw test failure rates of 33% in math (from 27% to 40%) and 40% in English (from 25% to 42%).

--Lake Forest School District 67, which saw test failure rates of 29% in math (from 33% to 47%) and 35% in English (from 34% to 52%).

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
Antioch Community Consolidated School District 34	60.2%	74.2%	59.4%	73%
Aptakisic-Tripp Community Consolidated School District 102	32%	40.8%	30.1%	44.9%
Bannockburn School District 106	29.9%	31.7%	17.5%	27.7%
Barrington Community Unit School District 220	46%	57.8%	41.2%	53.4%
Beach Park Community Consolidated School District 3	88.8%	90.5%	83.4%	88.4%
Big Hollow School District 38	70%	76.7%	67.4%	74.6%
Deerfield School District 109	26.1%	38%	20.6%	36.5%
Diamond Lake School District 76	81.2%	88.1%	71.7%	85.3%
Emmons School District 33	65.8%	66%	51.6%	56.1%
Fox Lake Grade School District 114	76.7%	89.2%	68.3%	88.9%
Fremont School District 79	53.7%	68.3%	45.7%	57.5%
Gavin School District 37	79.4%	85.2%	68%	83.7%
Grass Lake School District 36	76.8%	77.4%	68.8%	70.2%
Grayslake Consolidated Community School District 46	57.3%	72.9%	49.7%	65.1%
Gurnee School District 56	80.8%	88.9%	75.9%	85.8%
Hawthorn Community Consolidated School District 73	48%	58.1%	46.6%	58.8%
Kildeer Countryside Community Consolidated School District 96	27%	40.2%	25%	41.5%
Lake Bluff Elementary School District 65	38.4%	39.5%	33.4%	45.4%
Lake Forest School District 67	33.2%	46.7%	33.7%	52.2%
Lake Villa Community Consolidated School District 41	67.3%	80.9%	56.3%	71.3%
Lake Zurich Community Unit School District 95	49.4%	54.3%	46.8%	55.8%
Learn 9 in Waukegan	80.5%	88.2%	71.6%	80.8%
Libertyville School District 70	35.3%	49.5%	32.6%	40.7%
Lincolnshire-Prairieview School District 103	20.5%	24.8%	19%	31.2%
Millburn Community Consolidated School District 24	43.5%	51.9%	41.6%	60.4%
Mundelein Elementary School District 75	69.2%	82.7%	62.4%	77.6%
North Chicago School District 187	87.9%	91.8%	83.3%	86.6%
North Shore School District 112	48.5%	54.9%	45.7%	56.2%
Oak Grove School District 68	33%	38.8%	28.2%	38.6%
Prairie Crossing Charter School	42.5%	57.5%	45.7%	50.2%
Rondout School District 72	50.5%	41.4%	34.8%	32.6%
Round Lake Community Unit School District 116	87%	93.8%	84.3%	85.9%
Wauconda Community Unit School District 118	67.6%	78.9%	57.2%	71.9%
Waukegan Community Unit School District 60	83.9%	92.3%	80.7%	88.2%
Winthrop Harbor School District 1	62%	78.9%	55.6%	82.3%
Woodland Community Consolidated School District 50	63.9%	78.3%	64.4%	74%
Zion Elementary School District 6	91.5%	96.4%	84.4%	93.9%