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 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.

Hinsdale Township High School District 86 operates two high schools — Hinsdale Central and Hinsdale South — and in 2009 Hinsdale South failed to meet Adequate Yearly Progress for the fifth time in eight years in a specific subgroup.

In 2009, economically disadvantaged students failed to meet or exceed standards in reading and math.

On Oct. 19, the District 86 School Board approved a two-year School Improvement Plan submitted by Hinsdale South to address the failure to meet or exceed standards, a plan focusing on three specific areas: common reading strategies across several curriculum areas, expanding the number of students taking advanced placement courses and implementing a targeted math intervention program.

“We will target non-traditional advanced placement students, and give them support in taking these courses. Research shows that the more AP classes a student takes, the more likely it is for them to challenge themselves and grow academically,” Waterman said.

To help improve math scores, the school will implement a targeted intervention strategy, said Arwen Pokorny Lyp, assistant principal for curriculum and instruction at Hinsdale South.

“The plan is to help those students who have a gap, to eliminate that gap and get them back on track to their appropriate grade level,” Lyp said.

Claudia Geocaris, assistant superintendent for instruction, Hinsdale Township High School District 86, said: “While we are generally pleased with the 2009 results, we are never satisfied. There is always room for improvement. We continue to explore additional scientifically-based strategies to integrate into classroom instruction that will assist our students in achieving academically.”

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 shows how the entire student body did on the tests, and it 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.

Schools that continually fall short in the same subject face repercussions that become more rigorous as time goes on.

According to state law, after the first two years of not meeting adequate progress, a school is in “academic early watch status” and has to take steps to improve its scores. After the third year, the district steps in and helps create a “corrective action plan,” which could include lengthening the school day or year and bringing in an outside adviser.

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.”

All schools, even those that passed this year, are trying to get their scores up. In future years, making the grade will become tougher.

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.