This study examined the achievement trends of advanced learners and the relationship between Illinois' school district characteristics and student performance using Illinois Standards Achievement Test (ISAT) scores. The 3rd grade students scoring in the Exceeds category in ISAT reading and math within 707 Illinois school districts during the school year 2006-2007 formed the cohort groups and were followed longitudinally through the 8th grade. On ISAT reading and math, the pattern of losing advanced learners occurred. For science, increasing proportion of Exceeds students was observed. Significant differences were found by gender, ethnicity, and district socioeconomic status. This study shed many remarkable findings that merit further discussion of policy making and future research.