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% |
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