South Central Reporter

In the 2023-24 school year, 73.6% of Southwestern Community Unit School District 9 students failed the math portion of the Illinois Assessment of Readiness (IAR) test, according to the Illinois State Board of Education.

These students did not meet the required standards of the math portion of the IAR compared to the 26.4% who did.

The total number Southwestern Community Unit School District 9 students who failed their math assessments fell by 3.5% from the previous school year.

Southwestern Community Unit School District 9 roughly covers schools within Macoupin County and has a main office in Brighton.

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 did not meet met standards (%)
Southwestern Middle School	Southwestern Community Unit School District 9	82.8%
Medora Intermediate School	Southwestern Community Unit School District 9	78.4%
Shipman Elementary School	Southwestern Community Unit School District 9	58.5%