17.1% of DeKalb Community Unit School District 428 students met or exceeded ELA IAR expectations on tests in 2023-24 school year

Tony Sanders State Superintendent of Education | Official Website

By DeKalb Times

Apr 27, 2025

In the 2023-24 school year, 17.1% of the students in DeKalb Community Unit School District 428 passed the ELA portion of the Illinois Assessment of Readiness (IAR), according to the Illinois State Board of Education.

Of the 2,772 students in DeKalb Community Unit School District 428 who took the ELA portion of the test, approximately 474 (17.1%) passed.

The percentage of DeKalb Community Unit School District 428 students who met or exceeded expectations on the IAR increased by 2.4% compared to the previous school year.

DeKalb Community Unit School District 428 roughly covers 11 schools within DeKalb County and has a main office in DeKalb.

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.

Students Who Met or Exceeded Academic Standards in ELA During 2023-24 School Year

School	District	Students who met standards (%)	Students who exceed standards (%)
Jefferson Elementary School	DeKalb Community Unit School District 428	28%	1.4%
Huntley Middle School	DeKalb Community Unit School District 428	20.6%	1.1%
Littlejohn Elementary School	DeKalb Community Unit School District 428	19.1%	0%
Malta Elementary School	DeKalb Community Unit School District 428	18.7%	0%
Cortland Elementary School	DeKalb Community Unit School District 428	13.8%	0.4%
Clinton Rosette Middle School	DeKalb Community Unit School District 428	13.6%	0.5%
Founders Elementary School	DeKalb Community Unit School District 428	13%	0.4%
Tyler Elementary School	DeKalb Community Unit School District 428	10.9%	0.7%
Gwendolyn Brooks Elementary School	DeKalb Community Unit School District 428	8%	0.6%
Lincoln Elementary School	DeKalb Community Unit School District 428	7.5%	2.5%