North Cook News

Tens of thousands more K-12 students in North 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 North Cook News.

All but one of the 36 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:

--Schaumburg Community Consolidated School District 54, which saw test failure rates of 27% in math (from 45% to 62%) and 22% in English (from 43% to 56%).

--Avoca School District 37, which saw test failure rates of 27% in math (from 28% to 38%) and 44% in English (from 22% to 39%).

--Fairview School District 72, which saw test failure rates of 21% in math (from 51% to 65%) and 33% in English (from 30% to 46%).

--Golf Elementary School District 67, which saw test failure rates of 31% in math (from 45% to 65%) and 33% in English (from 46% to 68%).

--Niles Elementary School District 71, which saw test failure rates of 35% in math (from 52% to 79%) and 46% in English (from 38% to 70%).

--Northbrook/Glenview School District 30, which saw test failure rates of 26% in math (from 21% to 28%) and 39% in English (from 22% to 37%)

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
Arlington Heights School District 25	44.6%	54.7%	39.7%	51.4%
Avoca School District 37	27.9%	38.3%	22%	39%
Community Consolidated School District 59	79.3%	82.8%	69.6%	78.6%
Des Plaines Community Consolidated School District 62	55.8%	70.3%	42.7%	58.8%
East Maine School District 63	62.6%	75.6%	59.8%	72.2%
East Prairie School District 73	52.7%	60.9%	39.9%	53.7%
Evanston Community Consolidated School District 65	53.6%	62.6%	55.4%	65.4%
Fairview School District 72	51.2%	64.7%	30.3%	45.5%
Glencoe School District 35	31.6%	31.6%	36.9%	35.7%
Glenview Community Consolidated School District 34	45.1%	56%	42.3%	57.3%
Golf Elementary School District 67	45.1%	65.3%	45.8%	68.2%
Kenilworth School District 38	26.1%	28.5%	26.9%	28.2%
Lincolnwood School District 74	55.8%	66.6%	42.5%	68.5%
Morton Grove School District 70	49.6%	60.6%	47.1%	49.7%
Mount Prospect School District 57	48.2%	60.6%	49.3%	59.3%
Niles Elementary School District 71	51.6%	79.1%	37.8%	69.5%
Norridge School District 80	61.2%	72.5%	52%	65.3%
Northbrook Elementary School District 27	26.3%	29.8%	18.7%	29.9%
Northbrook School District 28	33.7%	29.5%	31.7%	35%
Northbrook/Glenview School District 30	20.6%	28%	22.4%	36.6%
Palatine Community Consolidated School District 15	56.3%	63.8%	57.5%	67.8%
Park Ridge Consolidated Community School District 64	44.3%	58.5%	40.6%	49.5%
Pennoyer School District 79	57.1%	75.5%	51.1%	61.5%
Prospect Heights School District 23	54.7%	60.4%	51.5%	62.7%
River Trails School District 26	54.6%	60.7%	54.1%	58.9%
Rosemont Elementary School District 78	53.5%	73.6%	57.4%	67.2%
Schaumburg Community Consolidated School District 54	45.4%	62.2%	43.3%	55.8%
Skokie School District 68	65.4%	77.7%	63.3%	75.6%
Skokie School District 69	65.8%	76.3%	65.5%	75.2%
Skokie School District 73-5	48.2%	69.8%	42.7%	61.2%
Sunset Ridge School District 29	26%	28.7%	26.9%	36.9%
Union Ridge School District 86	58.2%	73.1%	33.7%	46.8%
West Northfield School District 31	44.6%	51.5%	39.7%	45.6%
Wheeling Community Consolidated School District 21	70.2%	74.8%	71.1%	80.1%
Wilmette School District 39	36.7%	40.5%	34.2%	41.3%
Winnetka School District 36	27.5%	31.7%	27.8%	37.8%