Carbondale Reporter

In the 2023-24 school year, 18% of the students in Murphysboro Community Unit School District 186 passed the ELA portion of the Illinois Assessment of Readiness (IAR), according to the Illinois State Board of Education.

Of the 811 students in Murphysboro Community Unit School District 186 who took the ELA portion of the test, approximately 146 (18%) passed.

The percentage of Murphysboro Community Unit School District 186 students who met or exceeded expectations on the IAR increased by 0.2% compared to the previous school year.

Murphysboro Community Unit School District 186 roughly covers four schools within Jackson County and has a main office in Murphysboro.

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.

K-12 enrollment has been declining in Illinois for many years, reflecting the state's demographic changes. Between the 2019–20 and 2022–23 school years, Illinois public school enrollment declined from approximately 1.98 million to 1.85 million students, a decrease of about 127,000 students or 6.4%. This decline is significantly higher than the typical annual decreases of 0.5% to 1.5% observed in the preceding years, reflecting broader demographic shifts within the state.

School	District	Students who met standards (%)	Students who exceed standards (%)
Carruthers Elementary School	Murphysboro Community Unit School District 186	17.5%	2%
Murphysboro Middle School	Murphysboro Community Unit School District 186	16.5%	0%