NW Illinois News

IAR results are in and 59% of Whiteside County students failed the ELA portion of the test in the 2023-24 school year, according to the Illinois State Board of Education.

The students' overall failure rate in the subject in Whiteside County rose by 8.6% compared to the previous school year.

In comparison, schools in Alexander County fared the worst among all Illinois counties, with 87.3% 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 60.7% of its students passing the ELA 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
Prophetstown Elementary School	83.7%	37
Fulton Elementary School	71%	190
Merrill Elementary School	70.6%	241
Lincoln Elementary School	69.7%	297
Challand Middle School	67.3%	706
Washington Elementary School	64.1%	373
Southside School	63.4%	213
Erie Elementary School	60.5%	76
East Coloma - Nelson Elementary School	59.3%	145
Tampico Elementary School	58.1%	98
Montmorency School	54.3%	129
River Bend Middle School	52.3%	229
Morrison Junior High School	49.8%	207
Rock Falls Middle School	39.4%	236
Erie Middle School	38%	163
Prophetstown-Lyndon-Tampico Middle School	21.5%	158