Test Expectations: How many Marion County students failed to meet ELA expectations in 2022-23 school year?

Steven Isoye State Board of Education Chairperson | Official Website

By South Central Reporter

Aug 14, 2024

Results are in and 67.9% of Marion County students failed the ELA 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 ELA assessment in Marion County rose by 4.2% compared to the previous school year.

In comparison, schools in Alexander County fared the worst among all Illinois counties, with 95.7% 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 59.4% of its students passing the ELA 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%).

Marion County's Students Failure Rates in ELA Over 4 Years

Marion County Schools Students who Didn’t Meet Academic Standards in ELA During 2022-23 School Year

School	Students who did not meet standards (%)	Total students tested
South Central Middle School	95.7%	139
Odin Attendance Center K-8	90.3%	93
Sandoval Elementary School	90%	90
Sandoval Junior High School	89.5%	95
Jordan Elementary School	83.2%	101
Kell Grade School	81.4%	54
Patoka Junior High School	80%	45
South Central Elementary-Kinmundy School	77.3%	141
Centralia Junior High School	76.7%	585
Patoka Elementary School	73.3%	45
Selmaville Elementary School	69.3%	153
Hawthorn Elementary School	67%	106
Central City Elementary School	63.7%	204
Raccoon Consolidated Elementary School	54.3%	138
Iuka Community Consolidated School	42.6%	148
Franklin Park Middle School	40.3%	474