Both Bloomington-Normal school districts improved their graduation rates in 2026, with District 87 showing major improvement since a year ago.
Data from the Illinois School Report Card released Friday showed both Unit 5 and District 87 followed a statewide trend that resulted in a record-high statewide four-year graduation rate of 89.8%.
The report showed the fruits of the work District 87 did to improve underwhelming recent graduation numbers. District 87, which includes Bloomington High School, touts an 88% graduation rate in the 2026 report, up from 76.5% a year ago.
“Our increased high school graduation rate and decreased dropout rate are encouraging signs of progress, and we remain committed to building on these gains in the year ahead,” said Nicole Rummel, District 87's assistant superintendent of teaching and learning. “We are immensely proud of the academic growth at all of our schools.”
Unit 5 also improved its graduation rate to 91%, an improvement from the prior year’s 88.5%.
District 87 looked into English language learners as a particular group that could be improved upon to improve overall graduation rates. That rate dropped since last year, from 75% to 69.8%.
New categories reshape school designations
Illinois’ redesigned accountability system, known as Profiles of Performance, reshaped summative designations for 2026.
“Stakeholders have consistently told us that they wanted an accountability system that supports improvement, establishes clear expectations, recognizes strengths alongside challenges, and provides information schools can actually use as they think about school improvement,” said Tony Sanders, state superintendent of education. “Profiles of Performance were designed to address these priorities.”
It changed designations, from best to worst, to:
- Exemplary: The highest levels of performance. Schools with an Exemplary overall profile demonstrate strong patterns of performance and have no student groups with a Comprehensive profile.
- Approaching Exemplary: Patterns of strong performance approaching the highest levels. Schools with an Approaching Exemplary overall profile also have no student groups with a Comprehensive profile.
- Commendable: Solid performance, with multiple possible patterns of strengths and areas for improvement. This is the highest overall profile a school can receive if any student group has a Comprehensive profile.
- Developing: Patterns of performance showing greater need for improvement. Schools may have one or more student groups with a Comprehensive profile.
- Comprehensive: Patterns reflecting particularly low Core performance. For Title I schools, a Comprehensive overall profile results in identification for Comprehensive Support and Improvement.
Lowest-ranked schools were previously known as Targeted. Also new is that any school can reach Exemplary status by reaching the criteria, rather than that status being limited to a top percentage of schools. This allowed 28.3% of schools statewide to reach Exemplary status, when only about one-tenth of schools would earn the designation under the previous format.
Exemplary designations more than doubled in McLean County, with two of every five public schools earning the title. There were only eight a year prior.
There are eight total Exemplary schools in Bloomington-Normal: Benjamin, Grove, Hudson, Northpoint, Prairieland and Towanda elementaries for Unit 5, and Washington and Oakland elementaries for District 87.
Rural Exemplary schools included all three levels of Tri-Valley, Heyworth and Lexington; LeRoy High School and Olympia North and West elementaries.
The three McLean County public schools marked Comprehensive for 2026 are District 87’s Sheridan Elementary, Unit 5’s Oakdale Elementary and LeRoy Junior High. There were twice as many Targeted schools in 2025.
The YouthBuild McLean County charter school was also Comprehensive.
Proficiencies
Both Bloomington-Normal school districts largely improved in academic proficiencies, according to Illinois Assessment of Readiness [IAR] scores. IAR is how the state measures assessment and accountability.
Unit 5 improved in English language arts [ELA] at 57.6% proficiency, but took a slight step back in math at 38.5%. Totals a year ago were 53.7% and 39.6%, respectively.
At District 87, 40% ELA and 25.7% math proficiencies both improved from a year ago [37.5% and 24%].
Statewide, proficiencies stood at 56.3% for ELA and 39.6% for math.
Teacher additions
Teacher headcounts across Illinois continued a steady increase in 2026. The state has added more than 12,000 teachers while reducing the number of unfilled positions since 2019.
District 87 has 37 more teachers than it had five years ago in 2021. Unit 5 has stayed more steady, only losing seven since 2021 but gaining five from 2025.
