ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO) — The Illinois State Board of Education has published the results of the statewide school report card, which grades districts on student and school performance.

The 2023 snapshot of academic progress shows the Rockford Public School District with a 69% graduation rate, versus the state average of 87.6%. Students showed a 32% proficiency in science (state average: 51%), 24% passing 8th-grade Algebra, and 75% of 9th-grade students “on track.”

The report showed 17.8% of students with proficiency in English and Language Arts, below the state average of 34.6%, but an improvement over 16% in 2022.

In mathematics, Rockford students had an 11.3% proficiency rate, below the state average of 26.9%, but an improvement over 2022’s 10.9%.

The state’s results also showed nearly 50% chronic absenteeism across the 44 Rockford schools, below the state average of 28.3%. But, that’s lower than the 60.8% reported during the 2022 Covid recovery era.

Each school in the district also received a “summative designation” by the ISBE, with Thurgood Marshall Elementary and Thurgood Marshall School considered “Exemplary” (performing in the top 10% of schools statewide with no underperforming student groups).

Fourteen schools earned the designation of no underperforming student groups, a graduation rate greater than 67%.

However, Eisenhower Middle School, Constance Lane Elementary School, Maud E. Johnson Elementary School, Rolling Green, and West View Elementary School fall in the lowest-performing 5% of schools in Illinois, with a graduation rate of 67 percent or less.

Superintendent Dr. Ehren Jarrett said that overall, he’s pleased with the results.

“We’re seeing a lot of year-over-year improvements. We’re really focusing on key metrics like graduation rate, freshman on track, third-grade literacy are three big areas we’re focusing and excited to see that we both gained on the state average in those areas and are making progress towards our improvement targets that we’ve set with the Board of Education,” Jarrett said. “So all in all, it was a good year, and nice to see some improvement and some recovery from the students.”

The report card also showed that the district spends an average of $16,000 per student.

To view the report card of Rockford or other Illinois schools, click here.