11 Illinois School Districts Get D-Grade Academic Scores

While D is technically a passing grade, it's certainly not the goal of any educational institution. In a new national ranking, 11 school districts in Illinois were just handed a grade of D for their academic work.

Niche just released their new 2026 ranking of school districts in Illinois

Niche said that they did a "rigorous analysis of key statistics and millions of reviews from students and parents using data from the U.S. Department of Education" to decide what the best and worst school districts were in Illinois. The lowest grade in Illinois is a D which was handed to 11 different school districts around the state. Here they are:

• Cahokia Community Unit School District No. 187
• Harvey School District No. 152
• Silvis School District No. 34
• Calumet City School District No. 155
• Betty Shabazz International Charter School
• South Holland School District No. 151
• Hazel Crest School District No. 152-5
• La Salle Elementary School District No. 122
• Dolton School District No. 149
• West Harvey-Dixmoor Public School District No. 147
• Ford Heights School District No. 169

I have so many questions when I see rankings like this. The first is methodology. In this case, Niche says they used "state test scores, college readiness, graduation rates, teacher quality, public school district ratings", but did not use ACT or SAT scores for this new ranking. That's certainly reputable categories of data, but I also noticed that several of the schools on this list have positive ratings from parents and teachers. That's why I always recommend that you never rely on just one ranking to make important decisions like the school you or your children attend. If nothing else, lists like this one are a good starting point for your own research.