What to know about the 2026 Illinois State Report Card and how schools in Chicago fared on key metrics

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After the Illinois State Board of Education changed the parameters for how it measures school-level performance earlier this year, the number of public schools in the state that are considered Exemplary — the state’s highest of five ratings — rose 17%

States are required by federal law to have an accountability system monitoring how schools perform on certain metrics. Under the previous system, only the top 10% of public schools in the state could achieve Exemplary status. Officials said that led to a lopsided distribution of schools stuck in the Commendable category — formerly the second-highest category. Now, 27% are considered Exemplary.

A new trove of data annually released as the Illinois Report Card also shows an uptick in the percentage of students considered proficient in reading and math. Roughly 56% of students are considered proficient in English language arts, while almost 40% are in math. That’s up from 53% and 38.5%, respectively.

Years prior to 2025 cannot be compared because last year, the state lowered the scores needed to be deemed proficient in English language arts and math.

Illinois school leaders and Chicago are touting record-high graduation rates. The state recorded a four-year graduation rate of nearly 89%, a little less than a one percentage point increase from last year. In CPS, graduation rates also saw positive movement after increasing for the second consecutive year from 82.5% in 2025 to more than 83% in 2026.

“The fact that we're seeing the progress we are on a number of fronts is good news,” said Robin Steans, president of education advocacy group Advance Illinois.

The number of teachers in Illinois also continues to expand, now at nearly 144,000. Class sizes are generally trending downward, and the teacher retention rate is over 90% for the first time in over a decade. But teacher attendance rates are a cause for concern after they took a hit from the pandemic. In 2019, most Illinois teachers had high attendance — with 73% missing fewer than 10 days of school. Now, about 65% of teachers are in that category.

Here are three trends worth diving into from this year’s latest state report card data.

New state rating system opens door to exemplary status

One of the biggest differences families may notice about this year’s data is the new way Illinois categorizes public schools’ performance.

Instead of weighing schools against each other, schools are placed in one of five groups — Exemplary, Approaching Exemplary, Commendable, Developing, and Comprehensive — based on what the state calls core and elevating indicators.

“If you were a school district that had significant improvement from one year to the next, you could still be outperformed by another school and be kicked out of the Exemplary band, because only 10% of schools could be labeled as Exemplary under our old system,” Illinois State Superintendent of Education Tony Sanders said.

Although the categories aren’t exactly the same, the distribution of schools across the performance spectrum has shifted. Instead of labeling only the top 10% Exemplary, 27% of Illinois schools have earned the label. Last year, almost three-quarters of all Illinois public schools fell in the Commendable category, but with the introduction of a new second-highest ranking — Approaching Exemplary — Commendable schools make up a little more than a quarter of the total.

More Chicago schools are being considered Exemplary, with an increase from 2% of CPS schools in 2025 to 9% in 2026. The portion of schools in the bottom two rungs of the new ranking ladder also swelled compared to last year, when approximately 14% of CPS schools were in the two lowest categories. But CPS serves more students with higher needs, such as English learners and those from low income families.

The designations are helpful for assessing the state of student needs across the district, but they aren’t the end-all be-all, CPS deputy chief education officer Annise Lewis said. Internally, CPS no longer uses its old rating system that assigned schools letter or number grades after the teachers union’s pushback that it disproportionately penalized schools that served more high-needs students. Under the district’s current strategic plan, academic outcomes share importance with other goals such as student growth and well-being, Lewis said.

Proficiency trends up after Illinois cut score change

All public school students in grades 3-8 take the Illinois Assessment of Readiness. Students’ performance on the exam falls into one of four categories: above proficient, proficient, approaching proficient, and below proficient.

The state education board voted unanimously to lower the cut scores for the assessment in 2025, citing the need to match student abilities and reduce one of the highest cut scores in the nation. Several states had already lowered them after pandemic-related academic declines. The change means that state test scores diverge from a national test known as the Nation’s Report Card.

Nationally, 13-year-olds’ average scores in reading and math have taken a nosedive since the pandemic, whereas 9-year-olds are bouncing back with growth in both subjects. Between 2012 and 2025, the average score for 13-year-olds decreased by 7 points in reading and 15 in math.

In Chicago, the percentage of students considered proficient in ELA increased by 3 percentage points to nearly 46% — a jump that paralleled the state’s gains. CPS Director of Literacy Jane Fleming attributes that performance to the district’s “standards aligned and culturally responsive” initiatives. The increased proficiency is especially impressive considering the district’s large English learner population, which also saw small gains, Fleming said.

IAR math proficiency is another story. The portion of students between third and eighth grade statewide who are considered proficient sits more than 15% lower than students who are proficient in ELA.

Illinois high schoolers did better in math than in ELA. All 11th grade students must take the college entrance exam, and this past spring, the cohort posted a higher composite math score at 19.2 than the 17.9 composite for ELA. The percentage of students considered proficient in ELA on the ACT dropped from 2025 to 2026.

Students are missing less school, but still more than before pandemic

Chronic absenteeism dropped again, the fourth consecutive year of declines since it ballooned as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the percentage of students experiencing chronic absenteeism — defined by the U.S. Department of Education as missing 10% of school days — is still higher than it was pre-2020. Numerous studies outline how missing school can impact everything from test scores to a student’s sense of belonging.

This year, 23% of students outside Chicago were chronically absent, according to the new data. Since peaking at almost 45% in 2022, CPS’ chronic absenteeism rate has fallen about 6 percentage points. Vast racial disparities still persist — 44% of Black students were chronically absent this year compared to 23% of white students.

CPS chief of college and career success Megan Hougard said getting students to not miss school is the responsibility of everyone who works for the district, not just “one department in isolation.”

Makiya Seminera is a reporter covering how the state and federal government affect education in Chicago and across Illinois. Contact Makiya at [email protected].

Kae Petrin is a data & graphics reporter who covers data related to K-12 education, voting rights, and public health for Civic News Company. Contact them at [email protected].

Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news organization covering public education.