ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - Illinois education leaders and teachers are celebrating positive gains in several areas on the annual state report card.
KMOX's partners at "Capitol News Illinois" poured through the data from the tests given in the spring, which showed big increases in proficiency rates for English Language Arts, and modest increases in math proficiency rates.
The report card also showed that the state's four-year high school graduation rate is the highest it's been in 13 years at 87.6%.
Black students were among the largest group to see big gains in many key categories.
However, there appears to be one growing problem in the state: chronic absenteeism.
According to the data, more than a quarter of all students missed at least 10% of the school year.
