NW Illinois News

IAR results are in and 54.6% of Ogle 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 Ogle County rose by 11.8% 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
Central Elementary School	90.5%	146
Tilton Elementary School	85.3%	299
Monroe Center Grade School	69%	304
Rochelle Middle School	61.9%	457
Mary Morgan Elementary School	57.4%	298
Forreston Grade School	54.1%	146
Centennial Elementary School	53.5%	116
Oregon Elementary School	51.5%	365
Meridian Junior High School	50.6%	322
Forreston Junior/Senior High School	47.8%	180
Kings Elementary School	41.2%	51
Creston Elementary School	40.5%	52
Aplington Middle School	39.1%	105
Oregon High School	30.9%	201
Eswood C.C. Grade School	30.6%	49
Byron Middle School	26.6%	360