Kankakee Times

Results are in and 60.8% of Iroquois County students failed the ELA portion of the Illinois Assessment of Readiness (IAR) test in the 2022-23 school year, according to the Illinois State Board of Education.

The number of students who failed their ELA assessment in Iroquois County rose by 13.8% compared to the previous school year.

In comparison, schools in Alexander County fared the worst among all Illinois counties, with 95.7% of students failing to meet test requirements.

At the other end of the spectrum, Woodford County had the highest success rate across the state, with 59.4% of its students passing the ELA portion of the IAR.

The IAR measures how well students in grades 3-8 are progressing in meeting the English Language Arts and Mathematics standards set by the state.

According to recent IAR data, the average ELA proficiency rate for Illinois students was 35.4% in 2023, while the math proficiency rate stood at 27.1%. However, data also indicates a significant achievement gap based on race and ethnicity.

White students demonstrated higher proficiency rates in both ELA and math compared to Black and Hispanic students. The ELA proficiency rate for white students was 45.6%, around twice higher than that of Black students (17%) and Hispanic students (23.3%).

The gap was even worse in math, with white students achieving a 37% proficiency rate, nearly five times higher than Black students (7.9%) and over twice higher than Hispanic students (14.4%).

School	Students who did not meet standards (%)	Total students tested
Iroquois West Middle School	76%	195
Milford Grade School West Campus	72.8%	198
John L. Nash Middle School	69%	277
Cissna Park Elementary School	65%	63
Crescent City Grade School	58.2%	43
Donovan Elementary School	56%	59
Chebanse Elementary School	55.8%	122
Iroquois West Elementary School/Thawville	55.6%	126
Cissna Park Junior High School	47.2%	53
Watseka Junior High School	45.3%	194
Iroquois West Elementary School/Gilman	37.8%	53
Donovan Junior High School	37.5%	56