Bret Pignatiello Principal | Bourbonnais 53 District
Bret Pignatiello Principal | Bourbonnais 53 District
The number of Kankakee County students who succeeded rose by 23.5% compared to the previous school year.
Woodford County had the highest success rate across the state, with 60.7% of its students passing the ELA portion of the IAR. Schools in Alexander County, on the other hand, performed the worst, with 87.3% of students failing to meet test requirements.
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.
Illinois allocated $8.6 billion to K-12 education in its 2025 budget—a $350 million increase over FY 2024, meeting the minimum required under the state’s school funding formula.
Kankakee County Schools Students who Met or Exceeded Academic Standards in ELA Compared to Previous Years
| School | Students who met standards (%) | Students who exceed standards (%) | Total enrollment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Limestone Middle School | 52.4% | 6% | 459 |
| St. George Elementary School | 48.7% | 5.5% | 378 |
| Grant Park Elementary School | 47.8% | 8.7% | 319 |
| Manteno Middle School | 45.4% | 13.2% | 528 |
| Liberty Intermediate School | 45.3% | 6.8% | 738 |
| Bradley Central Middle School | 38.9% | 5.9% | 378 |
| St. Anne Elementary School | 35.9% | 1.3% | 248 |
| Manteno Elementary School | 35.3% | 4.3% | 698 |
| Bourbonnais Upper Grade Center | 33.5% | 10.5% | 487 |
| Shabbona Elementary School | 33.3% | 1.7% | 289 |
| Herscher Intermediate School | 30.5% | 1.6% | 376 |
| Alan B. Shepard Elementary School | 26.3% | 2% | 477 |
| Noel Levasseur Elementary School | 23.7% | 1.3% | 340 |
| Bradley West Elementary School | 23.7% | 0.8% | 387 |
| Lincoln Cltrl Center-Montessori Elementary School | 21.9% | 1.6% | 457 |
| Momence Junior High School | 20.8% | 1.2% | 342 |
| Kankakee Junior High School | 19% | 1.5% | 504 |
| Lorenzo R. Smith Elementary School | 18.6% | 1.8% | 189 |
| King Middle Grade School | 16.4% | 1.4% | 349 |
| Je-Neir Elementary School | 15.3% | 0.7% | 334 |
| John Kennedy Middle Grade School | 10.7% | 1.8% | 515 |
| Steuben Elementary School | 9.3% | 0% | 271 |
| Taft Primary School | 7.4% | 0% | 300 |
| Mark Twain Primary School | 4% | 0% | 274 |
| Edison Primary School | 3.3% | 0% | 202 |
Information in this story was obtained from the Illinois State Board of Education. The source data can be found here.
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