Tony Sanders State Superintendent of Education | Official Website
Tony Sanders State Superintendent of Education | Official Website
The students' overall failure rate in the subject in Stephenson County rose by 0.4% compared to the previous school year.
In comparison, schools in Alexander County fared the worst among all Illinois counties, with 97.1% of students failing to meet test requirements.
At the other end of the spectrum, Monroe County had the highest success rate across the state, with 50% of its students passing the mathematics portion of the IAR.
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 | Students who did not meet standards (%) | Total students tested |
|---|---|---|
| Empire Elementary School | 97.3% | 110 |
| Carl Sandburg Middle School | 91% | 422 |
| Freeport Middle School | 90.1% | 463 |
| Lincoln-Douglas Elementary School | 89.8% | 98 |
| Orangeville Junior High School | 89.6% | 67 |
| Black Hawk Elementary School | 84.4% | 90 |
| Jones-Farrar, an International Baccalaureate World School | 83.5% | 176 |
| Orangeville Elementary School | 71.4% | 63 |
| Dakota Junior Senior High School | 69.3% | 101 |
| Dakota Elementary School | 66.8% | 214 |
| Pearl City Elementary School | 66.7% | 99 |
| Center Elementary School | 62.3% | 98 |
| Lena-Winslow Junior High School | 58.2% | 170 |
| Lena-Winslow Elementary School | 55.5% | 173 |
| Pearl City Junior High School | 52.7% | 76 |
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