As Illinois student performance standards get tougher each year, more schools are falling short of the mark, according to statewide report cards released this week.

While most western suburb schools’ overall tests scores were well above the state requirements, the results show that in many cases low-income students and students with disabilities are below the standard.

The annual report cards track performance for the federal No Child Left Behind Act. This year’s reports for the roughly 4,000 schools and 869 districts in Illinois were posted online at iirc.niu.edu on Friday, Oct. 30.

Out of DuPage County’s 231 elementary, middle and high schools, 55 did not make the grade this year, up from 36 last year.

While many of the substandard schools performed well overall — in almost half, the entire student body performed better than the state average — the schools often fell short because of low grades among certain demographics. In 35 of the schools, for example, students with disabilities did not meet the standard in math or reading.

Downers Grove North High School Principal Maria Ward said she is disappointed about not making adequate yearly progress this year but was pleased with overall success.

“The performance of the all we are quite pleased with — 77 percent met in reading and 78 percent met in math,” Ward said. “That is the highest that have met or exceeded at North High School since the start of the PSAE.”

The special education students on the Individualized Education Plan fell a little short of meeting AYP this year.

“All subgroups benefit with what we are doing with the ‘all’ but we target and identify some kids and refer them to get assistance in the (after-school program).”

Students who don’t meet or exceed or are at risk are required to enroll in the ACT prep course, Ward said.

Stephan Bild, Downers Grove South High School principal, said overall the school did well with math scores jumping significantly.

“Teachers and students are always working on how to strategize to do better on the tests,” Bild said.

Black, Hispanic and economically disadvantaged groups did not make AYP this year. To help raise those scores, school officials have implemented a prep class, expanded literacy coaching and working in test material into classes.

The report cards are based on the results of two statewide tests, one taken from third to eighth grade and the other given during junior year of high school.

Each school’s report card breaks down the scores into smaller student demographics. These subgroups — based on race, socioeconomic status or other factors — are measured if a school has 45 or more students in the group.

For a school to achieve adequate yearly progress, a certain percent of the entire student body and each subgroup has to pass the bar in both math and reading. In 2009 the minimum is 70 percent.

If after four years the school still has not made adequate progress, the district has to draft a more intensive restructuring plan for the school, and that plan is put into place after five years of not making progress.

The state gives school districts several options for the fifth-year restructuring plan, such as reopening as a public charter school, replacing much of the teaching staff or overhauling the curriculum. School districts tend to go with that last option, said Melina Wright, the No Child Left Behind liaison for the Illinois State Board of Education.

Seven years after the No Child Left Behind Act was enacted, some schools still are not making progress even after the fifth-year restructuring. And the law does not require additional steps.

“The law is silent,” Wright said. “For whatever reason the law does not address what happens beyond the restructuring phase.”

Next year, 77.5 percent of students have to pass, and the goal is to have 100 percent of Illinois public school students passing by 2014.