McLean County Times

Results are in and 65.7% of McLean County students failed the ELA 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 ELA assessment in McLean County rose by 8% compared to the previous school year.

In comparison, schools in Alexander County fared the worst among all Illinois counties, with 95.7% 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 59.4% of its students passing the ELA 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
Sheridan Elementary School	92.7%	178
Irving Elementary School	90.9%	176
Stevenson Elementary School	87.8%	147
Ridgeview Elementary School	87.8%	107
Bloomington Junior High School	86.3%	969
Bent Elementary School	86.2%	187
Fox Creek Elementary School	85.7%	155
Ridgeview Junior High School	85.2%	134
Oakdale Elementary School	81.6%	184
Sugar Creek Elementary School	81.4%	107
Cedar Ridge Elementary School	80.9%	173
Parkside Elementary School	78.5%	126
Fairview Elementary School	78.4%	125
Pepper Ridge Elementary School	78%	141
Olympia Middle School	75.1%	370
Kingsley Junior High School	74.1%	746
Oakland Elementary School	71.8%	217
Carlock Elementary School	71.2%	59
Leroy Elementary School	69.9%	206
Lexington Junior High School	66.6%	111
Glenn Elementary School	65.7%	99
Leroy Junior High School	65.1%	123
Colene Hoose Elementary School	65%	197
Heyworth Junior-Senior High School	64%	128
Washington Elementary School	62.2%	156
Parkside Junior High School	62.2%	624
Heyworth Elementary School	61.1%	252
Olympia North Elementary School	60.9%	128
Hudson Elementary School	58.7%	128
Evans Junior High School	57.5%	724
Prairieland Elementary School	57.1%	221
Chiddix Junior High School	56.1%	574
El Paso-Gridley Junior High School	53.2%	374
Benjamin Elementary School	49%	314
Lexington Elementary School	48.5%	101
Northpoint Elementary School	48.4%	244
Grove Elementary School	44.6%	269
Towanda Elementary School	42.7%	96
Tri-Valley Middle School	37.4%	460
Thomas Metcalf School	32.9%	292
Tri-Valley Elementary School	29.2%	79