Kankakee Times

In the 2023-24 school year, 45.7% of the students in Bourbonnais School District 53 passed the ELA portion of the Illinois Assessment of Readiness (IAR), according to the Illinois State Board of Education.

Of the 1,446 students in Bourbonnais School District 53 who took the ELA portion of the test, approximately 661 (45.7%) passed.

The percentage of Bourbonnais School District 53 students who met or exceeded expectations on the IAR increased by 6.2% compared to the previous school year.

Bourbonnais School District 53 roughly covers five schools within Kankakee County and has a main office in Bourbonnais.

The Illinois Assessment of Readiness (IAR) measures how well students in grades 3-8 are progressing toward state standards in English language arts and mathematics.

Recent IAR data shows that while Illinois students improved slightly in the test, math performance remains below pre-pandemic levels. In 2024, 28.4% of students met math benchmarks, compared to 31.8% in 2019. However, data also indicates a significant achievement gap based on race and ethnicity. 

The disparities were even more pronounced in math. White students achieved a proficiency rate of 38.7%, while Black students achieved 9.1% and Hispanic students 15.6%. Asian students achieved the highest proficiency rates in both subjects, hitting 68.2% in ELA and 61.4% in math.

School	District	Students who met standards (%)	Students who exceed standards (%)
Liberty Intermediate School	Bourbonnais School District 53	45.3%	6.8%
Bourbonnais Upper Grade Center	Bourbonnais School District 53	33.5%	10.5%
Shabbona Elementary School	Bourbonnais School District 53	33.3%	1.7%
Alan B. Shepard Elementary School	Bourbonnais School District 53	26.3%	2%
Noel Levasseur Elementary School	Bourbonnais School District 53	23.7%	1.3%