NW Illinois News

IAR results are in and 70.4% of Ogle County students failed the mathematics 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 3.8% 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
Tilton Elementary School	90.6%	300
Central Elementary School	89.8%	146
Rochelle Middle School	83.8%	457
Aplington Middle School	80%	105
Meridian Junior High School	73.6%	322
Monroe Center Grade School	72.4%	304
Oregon High School	71.2%	201
Forreston Junior/Senior High School	70%	180
Byron Middle School	68.3%	360
Forreston Grade School	62.4%	146
Oregon Elementary School	57.3%	365
Kings Elementary School	54.9%	51
Mary Morgan Elementary School	53%	298
Eswood C.C. Grade School	53%	49
Centennial Elementary School	46.5%	116
Creston Elementary School	44.2%	52