Tony Sanders State Superintendent of Education | Official Website
Tony Sanders State Superintendent of Education | Official Website
The students' overall failure rate in the subject in Jackson County rose by 1.6% 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Elverado Junior High School | 94.4% | 71 |
| Carbondale Middle School | 91% | 435 |
| Murphysboro Middle School | 90.6% | 404 |
| Lewis School | 89.7% | 301 |
| Thomas Elementary School | 87.5% | 160 |
| DeSoto Elementary School | 86.6% | 97 |
| Trico Junior High School | 83.3% | 173 |
| Carruthers Elementary School | 81.2% | 405 |
| Trico Elementary School | 78.5% | 186 |
| Elverado Intermediate School | 74.7% | 75 |
| Unity Point Elementary School | 72% | 364 |
| Giant City Elementary School | 50.7% | 136 |
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