Illinois Valley Times

Results are in and 79.2% of LaSalle County students failed the mathematics 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 mathematics assessment in LaSalle County rose by 2.6% compared to the previous school year.

In comparison, schools in Alexander County fared the worst among all Illinois counties, with 97.5% 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 46.8% of its students passing the mathematics 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	94.1%	256
Northlawn Junior High School	91.7%	586
Marseilles Elementary School	91.1%	293
Northwest Elementary School	89.2%	261
Shepherd Middle School	87.9%	380
Lincoln Elementary School	86.3%	197
Central Intermediate School	84.7%	334
Washington Elementary School	84.2%	133
Ransom Grade School	83.6%	55
Northbrook School	83.4%	450
Centennial Elementary School	81.6%	321
Lincoln Elementary School	79.8%	114
Tonica Grade School	79.6%	78
Serena Middle School	79.4%	184
Deer Park C.C. Elementary School	76.6%	30
Lostant Elementary School	75.4%	49
Lincoln Elementary School	74.3%	101
Milton Pope Elementary School	74.2%	120
Earlville Elementary School	73.5%	162
Parkside Middle School	73%	349
Leland Elementary School	71.1%	111
Jefferson Elementary School	70.5%	88
Dimmick Community Consolidated School District 175	69.6%	102
Seneca Elementary School South Campus	68.1%	194
Wallace Elementary School	67.5%	209
Sheridan Elementary School	65.5%	55
Rutland Elementary School	64.7%	34
Waltham Elementary School	64.5%	144
Seneca Grade School North Campus	62.6%	96
Northview Elementary School	59.6%	198
McKinley Elementary School	58.9%	124
Harding Grade School	51.3%	37
Grand Ridge School	51.2%	119