Report Ranks Top 100 School Districts in Illinois

A new report has ranked the top school districts in Illinois for 2018 and a west suburban school district topped the list.

Naperville’s Community Unit School District 203, which serves central Naperville and parts of Bolingbrook and Lisle, ranked no. 1 on the list of Illinois’ 100 best school districts by Backgroundchecks.org, an online portal that helps users find public records and run background checks.

Naperville Central High School, which is part of the district, has been listed as one of the top high schools in America by U.S. News and World Report and Meadow Glens Elementary was named a Blue Ribbon School in 2015, the report notes.

The ranking, which evaluated 9,577 districts, was made from data on students’ math and reading test scores from the Center for Education Policy Analysis, dropout rates and school funding from the National Center for Education Statistics and area poverty rates from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Following Naperville on the list was District 709 in Morton, District 118 in Wauconda, District 323 in Dunlap and District 220 in Barrington.

Morton was noted for having an average ACT composite score that is 2.5 points higher than the statewide average, according to the report. Dunlap and Barrington districts also earned the highest financial rating in the state.

Here’s a look at the top 10 school districts: