DeKalb Times

Test results show 32.7% of DeKalb County students passed the ELA portion of the Illinois Assessment of Readiness (IAR) in the 2023-24 school year, according to the Illinois State Board of Education.

The number of DeKalb County students who succeeded rose by 16% compared to the previous school year.

Woodford County had the highest success rate across the state, with 60.7% of its students passing the ELA portion of the IAR. Schools in Alexander County, on the other hand, performed the worst, with 87.3% of students failing to meet test requirements.

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.

Illinois allocated $8.6 billion to K-12 education in its 2025 budget—a $350 million increase over FY 2024, meeting the minimum required under the state’s school funding formula.

School	Students who met standards (%)	Students who exceed standards (%)	Total enrollment
W.W. Woodbury Elementary School	69%	2.4%	161
Somonauk Middle School	58%	13%	238
Prairie View Elementary School	48.6%	2.7%	189
North Elementary School	47.9%	2.1%	291
Genoa-Kingston Middle School	43.7%	9.1%	348
Sandwich Middle School	43%	6%	423
Sycamore Middle School	42.6%	5%	828
Herman E. Dummer School	42.2%	2.4%	252
Southeast Elementary School	38.9%	3.4%	299
Indian Creek Elementary School	38.3%	3.2%	251
Lynn G. Haskin Elementary School	36.5%	5.8%	268
Indian Creek Middle School	34.6%	1.8%	222
Hiawatha Elementary School Prek-5	34.1%	3.3%	215
North Grove Elementary School	32.7%	3%	426
Hinckley-Big Rock Elementary School	30.4%	1.9%	345
Hiawatha Junior/Senior High School	30%	1.1%	202
Jefferson Elementary School	28%	1.4%	319
West Elementary School	27.9%	4.5%	252
James R. Wood Elementary School	27.4%	0.9%	298
Genoa Elementary School	26.4%	0.9%	344
South Prairie Elementary School	22.1%	0.6%	349
Huntley Middle School	20.6%	1.1%	876
Littlejohn Elementary School	19.1%	0%	359
Malta Elementary School	18.7%	0%	285
Cortland Elementary School	13.8%	0.4%	504
Clinton Rosette Middle School	13.6%	0.5%	568
Founders Elementary School	13%	0.4%	542
Tyler Elementary School	10.9%	0.7%	283
Gwendolyn Brooks Elementary School	8%	0.6%	314
Lincoln Elementary School	7.5%	2.5%	266

Information in this story was obtained from the Illinois State Board of Education. The source data can be found here.