Higher science proficiency, graduation rates among highlights of 2026 Illinois Report Card

More suburban fifth and eighth graders are showing proficiency in mastering core science concepts from the nature of matter to engineering design, according to the 2026 Illinois Report Card released Friday.

The annual report card shows a statewide trend of improved science scores — some of the strongest gains among the three tested subjects, including English language arts and mathematics.

A record-high four-year graduation rate (89.8%), declining chronic absenteeism (down from 29.8% in 2022 to 23.5% in 2026), and more students participating in advanced coursework and career pathway programs also are among the highlights, State Superintendent of Education Tony Sanders said during a media briefing.

Since Illinois adopted new proficiency benchmarks in 2025, this year’s report card can only be measured against results from the previous year, which set a new baseline, officials said.

“We're seeing more students meeting grade-level expectations, graduating from high school on time, attending school consistently, and taking advantage of opportunities that prepare them for college and careers,” Sanders said.

Most significantly, science proficiency increased from the previous year across every student group measured, with Black students improving from 20.4% to 25.4%, low-income students going from 27.7% to 32.1%, and English learners from 12.2% to 16.8%. Overall, science proficiency went up from 44.6% to 48.7% in 2026, state education officials said citing report card data.

Fifth- and eighth-grade students improved science proficiency by more than six percentage points statewide. At the school level, some in the suburbs are seeing double-digit percentage-point increases in science proficiency.

That’s true for students at Clinton Elementary School in South Elgin, which went from 38.6% in 2025 to 51.9% in 2026 attaining proficiency on the federally mandated Illinois Science Assessment, administered to all students in fifth and eighth grades.

Across Elgin Area School District U-46 schools — the state’s second-largest educating more than 33,000 students — 39.4% attained science proficiency in 2026 compared with 34.7% in 2025, data show. Officials partly attribute that increase to a shift toward employing dedicated science teachers in grade schools.

“This year’s Illinois Report Card shows significant gains in science proficiency among U-46 elementary students. We believe adding science as a dedicated class taught by teachers who specialize in the subject has been an important contributor to that growth,” said U-46 Deputy Superintendent of Instruction Lela Majstorovic. “This approach gives students regular opportunities to explore scientific concepts, ask questions, and build their understanding through hands-on learning. We are encouraged by these results and grateful to our teachers for helping students develop the knowledge, curiosity and confidence that support continued success in science.”

Before the 2024-25 school year, science in elementary grades was taught by general education classroom teachers, same as math and English language arts. Now, U-46 students in first through fifth grades have two dedicated, hourlong sessions each week when they are taught by a science specialist. The district employs 85 science specialists across 36 elementary school buildings, said Deb McMullen, U-46’s coordinator of science and planetarium.

“Since that happened, every year I see their thinking and their wondering expand, and they’re pushing each other’s thinking and wondering,” said Katy Falcon, as she worked with second graders at Clinton Elementary School in South Elgin Thursday on a unit about biodiversity.

Students were learning about the differences between a rain forest and a tundra and the organisms that live in each habitat. Working in small groups, they organized flash cards of animals, plants and other living things into the habitats where they belonged.

Having a dedicated time specifically for science is key to the students’ improvement on state testing, said Falcon, who has been at Clinton for 10 years but teaching science exclusively for only the past three years.

Previously a general education teacher, Falcon said that in that setting only a small portion of class time was dedicated to science.

“And I can tell you that if we didn’t get math or reading done for the day and we still had science to do, we would push it aside to get math and reading done,” she said.

Clinton Principal Lauren McDonald touted Falcon’s “driving questions boards,” which have kids in all grades do “deep inquiry work” by having them ask and answer questions.

“People think about it as being all microscopes and investigations,” McDonald said. “But really we’re trying to incorporate literacy into science here because literacy is important in all areas.”

Meeting standards and accountability

Another contributing factor to improved science scores is that teachers are becoming more proficient at aligning their instruction to Next Generation Science Standards, adopted by Illinois in 2014, says Patrick Nolten, assistant superintendent for assessment, accountability and information at Naperville Community Unit District 203.

“Everybody knows what the expectations are in terms of what we teach, when, and how we teach it. But I think teachers are becoming better at understanding, like the expectations of the Next Generation Science Standards,” Nolten said. “It speaks to the strength of our teachers in … you know, improving with time and familiarity and practice and exposure to what exactly is expected … under the state science standards.”

For Naperville 203, of the roughly 3,600 students in fifth, eighth and 11th grades who took the Illinois Science Assessment in the spring, proficiency scores rose from 74% in 2025 to 76% in 2026 in fifth; from 75% to 79% in eighth; and slightly dipped from 79% to 78% in 11th.

However, science scores aren’t the district’s only cause for celebration on the 2026 Illinois Report Card.

District 203’s 21 schools each earned an “exemplary” designation per the state’s new accountability framework, and its students scored higher or matched in overall proficiency in English language arts (81%), math (70%) and science (77%) among comparable unit districts in Aurora, Barrington, Geneva, Elmhurst, St. Charles, and Wheaton, Nolten said.

“If you’re at or above 75%, that is considered exemplary for proficiency,” he said adding, 28.3% of schools statewide earned exemplary status.

The state’s redesigned Profiles of Performance accountability framework considers multiple measures of school performance, including academic proficiency, student growth, graduation rates where applicable, and indicators related to student engagement and progress. It also considers the performance of individual student groups such as English learners and students with disabilities. Under the previous accountability system, only 10% of schools were designated “exemplary.”

“These results give us important information about the strengths of our schools and the work taking place to support student learning. They also give us an opportunity to study where we can continue to grow and improve,” Nolten said.

ELA and math

Though gains were modest compared to science, statewide English language arts proficiency rose from 52.4% to 55.4% and from 38.4% to 39.2% in math. There was marked improvement across student groups and grade levels, data show.

Black students improved the most in English language arts, from 31.1% to 34.1%, while eighth graders went from 56.3% to 62.5% in proficiency, the largest year-over-year gain among tested grades. In math, ninth graders saw the largest increase in proficiency, from 37.7% to 41.7%. However, math growth remains below pre-pandemic levels for most student groups, data show.

Education leaders hope that will change with the adoption of a statewide Numeracy Plan aimed at strengthening math instruction and accelerating achievement and growth. It builds on lessons learned through implementation of the Illinois Comprehensive Literacy Plan, Sanders said.

While proficiency shows what a student knows and can do at a single point in time, growth shows how much a student has learned in comparison with peers who started at the same level. When looking at student learning, proficiency and growth, both are key to understanding performance, officials say.

“Proficiency is a snapshot of performance against the state’s learning standards. Students who are not yet proficient still demonstrate a wide range of skills and knowledge, and may be making significant academic progress each year and year over year,” Sanders said.

Graduation rates and chronic absenteeism

Since 2012, Illinois’ four-year graduation rate has increased by more than nine percentage points. Among suburban high schools, only six scored below the state average in 2026 of which three are in U-46, data show.

English learners saw some of the largest gains, increasing by 6.2 percentage points since 2022. Black, Hispanic and students identifying with two or more races also saw strong improvement in graduation rates.

Meanwhile, chronic absenteeism declined for the fourth consecutive year, showing schools are recovering from pandemic-era disruptions. Regular attendance is one of the strongest predictors of academic success and high school graduation, officials said.

Among those who improved in student attendance is East Maine School District 63 in Des Plaines. The district implemented practices that provided frequent, direct contact from classroom teachers and administrators to children and their families, resulting in a 12.9% decrease in chronic absenteeism in 2025-26, officials said.

“We are incredibly proud of our educators and students and appreciate the strong support from our families,” Superintendent Shawn Schleizer said.

Illinois schools also now employ nearly 140,000 teachers, which comes amid a decline in average class size and a continued statewide drop in student enrollment. But the diversity of the teaching population now better reflects Illinois’ students: Asian educators increased 11%, Hispanic increased 6%, and Black increased 5.2% in 2026.

To check out your school’s or district’s results in the 2026 Illinois Report Card, visit lllinoisReportCard.com.

Daily Herald staff writer Rick West contributed.