Illinois Report Card: Fewer Than Half of Chicago Students Read at Grade Level, and Math Proficiency Stands at 29 Percent
The Illinois Report Card released Oct. 30 shows modest proficiency gains for Chicago Public Schools in the 2025-2026 school year, but most students still did not meet grade-level standards in reading or math, and nearly 2 in 5 were chronically absent.
Fewer than half of Chicago Public Schools students read at grade level in the 2025-2026 school year, according to the Illinois Report Card released Oct. 30. The state data show 45.7 percent of CPS students in third through eighth grade were proficient in reading on the Illinois Assessment of Readiness, and 29 percent were proficient in math. Among 11th-graders, 43.9 percent were proficient in reading on the ACT and 28 percent in math.
The numbers moved in the right direction. Reading proficiency rose 2.9 percentage points on the state assessment and 3.8 points on the ACT compared with the previous school year. The analysis of the report card also notes the context behind the gains: in 2025, the Illinois State Board of Education lowered the scores needed to be considered proficient on state assessments in both reading and math.
Other measures in the report card were mixed. The analysis reports that 83 percent of CPS high school students graduated within four years, despite the low proficiency rates.
Chronic absenteeism remained high. The report card shows 38.8 percent of CPS students missed at least 10 percent of the 2025-2026 school year, with or without an excuse — an improvement from 40.1 percent in 2025, but still significantly higher than before the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the analysis.
