McLean County Times

Results are in and 72.4% of McLean County students failed the mathematics 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 mathematics assessment in McLean County rose by 1.9% compared to the previous school year.

In comparison, schools in Alexander County fared the worst among all Illinois counties, with 97.5% 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 46.8% of its students passing the mathematics 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	98.3%	179
Ridgeview Junior High School	93.3%	134
Bloomington Junior High School	92.3%	965
Oakdale Elementary School	91.8%	184
Stevenson Elementary School	91.2%	147
Irving Elementary School	90.3%	176
Bent Elementary School	89.8%	187
Cedar Ridge Elementary School	87.1%	172
Ridgeview Elementary School	86%	107
Fox Creek Elementary School	85.7%	155
Pepper Ridge Elementary School	84.4%	141
Parkside Elementary School	84.1%	126
Parkside Junior High School	80.8%	625
Kingsley Junior High School	79.9%	745
Sugar Creek Elementary School	78.5%	107
Fairview Elementary School	78.4%	125
Lexington Junior High School	76.5%	111
Carlock Elementary School	76.3%	59
Heyworth Junior-Senior High School	75.8%	128
Chiddix Junior High School	74.6%	573
Colene Hoose Elementary School	73.6%	197
Leroy Junior High School	72.4%	123
Oakland Elementary School	71.8%	217
Glenn Elementary School	70.7%	99
Olympia Middle School	70.6%	371
Evans Junior High School	70.3%	725
Washington Elementary School	69.9%	156
Leroy Elementary School	65.5%	206
Hudson Elementary School	64.8%	128
El Paso-Gridley Junior High School	64.5%	374
Olympia North Elementary School	63.2%	128
Heyworth Elementary School	59.1%	252
Lexington Elementary School	56.4%	101
Northpoint Elementary School	56.1%	244
Grove Elementary School	53%	268
Prairieland Elementary School	52.9%	221
Towanda Elementary School	49%	96
Tri-Valley Middle School	45.5%	460
Benjamin Elementary School	43.6%	314
Thomas Metcalf School	42%	292
Tri-Valley Elementary School	35.4%	79