Out of nearly 900 Illinois schools that failed to meet federally mandated standards on student achievement exams in 2007, 25 are in DuPage County, according to state testing data released Oct. 31.

No Child Left Behind calls for all students to meet or exceed standards in math and reading by 2014. Adequate yearly progress measures a school or district’s steps toward hitting that target.

Statewide, the number of high school students meeting or exceeding standards on the Prairie State Achievement Exam dropped by 1.7 percentage points from 2006 to 2007. Reading scores took the biggest hit, with the percentage of students who passed dropping by 4 points.

The PSAE is a two-day exam given to high school juniors each spring. On the first day, students take the ACT college entrance exam. The second day is devoted to the ACT Work Keys test, which measures real-world math and reading skills.

The drop-off in the scores has prompted the Illinois State Board of Education to re-examine the results of the 2007 exams.

“Each year you would expect a little bit of progress,” said Matt Vanover, a spokesman for the state board. “When we saw the drop, especially in the statewide average, we wanted to take a closer look at what caused it.”

The board began meeting with school district officials and representatives from the company that publishes the ACTs when the scores were released to districts about a month ago, Vanover said. Now the board is bringing in an independent third party to go over the results, he added.

Despite questions about the 2007 results, Michael Meissen, superintendent of Glenbard Township High School District 87, said the tests are still helpful in assessing how well the district is educating its students. Three of the district’s four high schools — Glenbard East in Lombard, Glenbard North in Carol Stream and Glenbard West in Glen Ellyn — failed to meet their benchmarks on the 2007 exams.

“We live in an era of greater accountability,” Meissen said. “What we’re trying to do is take the good and the benefits of this assessment. ... It causes you to look at each of your subgroups.”

Overall the district satisfied its requirements on the exams, but low math and reading scores among black, Hispanic and special education students did not meet standards for adequate yearly progress, according to state testing data.

“We don’t want to leave any child behind,” Meissen said. “We want to look at each student, child by child, and make sure they are learning, growing and developing.”

Through the assessments the district has identified reading, math, attendance and graduation rate as areas where it needs to improve, and implemented cross-curricular programs to help meet those goals, he said.

The state’s elementary schools fared much better on their annual test, the Illinois Student Achievement Test, which is given to all third- through eighth-grade students.

But Addison School District 4, Keeneyville School District 20 in Hanover Park, West Chicago Elementary School District 33 and Community Consolidated School District 180 in Burr Ridge all failed to make adequate yearly progress due to the reading scores of special education students.

While some students with disabilities are given special accommodations during testing — such as having extra time or having passages read to them — they take the same tests and are measured by the same standards as all other students.

Bhavna Sharma-Lewis, District 4’s assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction, said that presents a challenge for districts to make sure resources are available and teachers are trained to help those students succeed.

“It challenges us to continue to look for programs and curricula that are going to best meet the needs of all our students,” she said.