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.

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.

Of four high schools in Glenbard Township High School District 87, Glenbard South in Glen Ellyn was the only school to meet AYP.

“We have educators and leaders within looking for response to interventions and making sure there is a level of support for all students and certainly trying to build on what we have,” Superintendent Michael Meissen said. “We want to strengthen participation in summer school, bridge and enrichment courses. We have a top priority of literacy and reading and hope to start seeing improvement and growth in these areas.”

Glenbard East High School in Lombard did not make annual yearly progress this year, but principal Joshua Chambers sees a positive aspect to celebrate with the school.

“One of the things we were excited about is that we did make annual yearly progress with the special education programs and students with disabilities,” Chambers said. “It’s a category we’ve put a great deal of emphasis on and the department has put a lot of time and hard work into making this happen.”

Chambers said population changes in the district have affected the end result.

“Over the past 10 years, the school has seen the rate double of students who are economically disadvantage,” Chambers said. “When that rate increases, it puts a strain on the school as whole. Yet when looking at test scores, it is clear they have remained the same.”

Glenbard East continues to offer students various programs in order to get them on track. The school offers two different after-school tutoring programs as well as a program called the Freshmen Academy, which helps teachers identify individual student needs.

“It is something we are continuing to work on knowing that a fragment of our population is struggling,” Chambers said. “We will continue trying to identify pathways for students so we could give them the most opportunities.”