Illinois Valley Times

Results are in and 70.4% of LaSalle 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 LaSalle County rose by 7% 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
Lincoln Junior High School	91%	256
Marseilles Elementary School	87.7%	295
Northlawn Junior High School	84%	586
Centennial Elementary School	83.6%	322
Lincoln Elementary School	83.3%	114
Lincoln Elementary School	80.8%	197
Northwest Elementary School	80.5%	261
Lincoln Elementary School	80.3%	101
Ransom Grade School	80%	55
Sheridan Elementary School	80%	55
Tonica Grade School	73%	78
Earlville Elementary School	72.2%	162
Shepherd Middle School	71.7%	382
Lostant Elementary School	71.5%	49
Leland Elementary School	70.2%	111
Serena Middle School	68.2%	185
Milton Pope Elementary School	67.5%	120
Washington Elementary School	67%	133
Northbrook School	66.8%	450
Parkside Middle School	66.4%	349
Jefferson Elementary School	66.3%	89
Seneca Elementary School South Campus	61.9%	194
Rutland Elementary School	61.8%	34
Central Intermediate School	61.8%	336
Northview Elementary School	61.2%	198
Deer Park C.C. Elementary School	56.6%	30
Seneca Grade School North Campus	55.3%	96
Wallace Elementary School	51.2%	209
Grand Ridge School	47.9%	119
Harding Grade School	45.9%	37
Dimmick Community Consolidated School District 175	44.1%	102
Waltham Elementary School	41.6%	144
McKinley Elementary School	36.3%	124