Jason Helfer Chief Education Officer - Instruction | Twitter
Jason Helfer Chief Education Officer - Instruction | Twitter
The number of Winnebago County students who succeeded rose by 16.2% 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.
Winnebago County Schools Students who Met or Exceeded Academic Standards in ELA Compared to Previous Years
| School | Students who met standards (%) | Students who exceed standards (%) | Total enrollment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Durand Junior High School | 61% | 5.1% | 63 |
| Stephen Mack Middle School | 59.5% | 17.3% | 535 |
| Thurgood Marshall School | 58% | 35.3% | 483 |
| Thurgood Marshall Elementary | 57.4% | 38.6% | 378 |
| Prairie Hill Elementary School | 55.6% | 18.8% | 465 |
| Willowbrook Middle School | 51.3% | 24.4% | 318 |
| Whitman Post Elementary School | 46% | 5% | 528 |
| Kinnikinnick School | 45.5% | 5% | 388 |
| Roscoe Middle School | 44.2% | 24.7% | 567 |
| Stone Creek School | 42.9% | 5.6% | 335 |
| Durand Elementary School | 42.3% | 2.9% | 273 |
| Winnebago Middle School | 40.9% | 2.7% | 293 |
| Montessori Elementary School | 38.2% | 4.2% | 635 |
| Pecatonica Elementary School | 37.6% | 4% | 325 |
| Pecatonica Community Middle School | 37.5% | 6% | 250 |
| Olson Park Elementary School | 37.1% | 5.9% | 356 |
| Haskell Elementary School | 36.7% | 6.5% | 285 |
| Shirland Community Consolidated School | 36.4% | 16.7% | 102 |
| Brookview Elementary School | 35.5% | 3.8% | 457 |
| South Beloit Junior High School | 34.6% | 6.8% | 131 |
| Clifford P. Carlson Elementary School | 34.6% | 1.9% | 352 |
| Ralston Elementary School | 30.3% | 2.7% | 294 |
| Jean McNair Elementary School | 28.4% | 0.8% | 250 |
| Maud E. Johnson Elementary School | 28% | 1.6% | 385 |
| Arthur Froberg Elementary School | 27.9% | 3.8% | 419 |
| Harlem Middle School | 26.5% | 4.5% | 939 |
| Cherry Valley Elementary School | 26.3% | 2.5% | 631 |
| Machesney Elementary School | 25.7% | 0.7% | 305 |
| Spring Creek Elementary School | 25% | 0.8% | 530 |
| West View Elementary School | 21.6% | 1.4% | 445 |
| Maple Elementary School | 21.5% | 0.6% | 410 |
| Bernard W. Flinn Middle School | 21.4% | 0.9% | 787 |
| Eisenhower Middle School | 20.9% | 0.6% | 979 |
| Riverview Elementary School | 20.3% | 2.9% | 206 |
| Barbour Two-Way Language Immersion | 20.2% | 1.7% | 629 |
| Marquette Elementary School | 20% | 0% | 266 |
| Rolling Green Elementary School | 19.9% | 0.4% | 525 |
| Loves Park Elementary School | 19.8% | 1% | 368 |
| Rock Cut Elementary School | 19.4% | 1.8% | 419 |
| West Middle School | 19.1% | 1.1% | 776 |
| Windsor Elementary School | 18.6% | 0% | 371 |
| Galapagos Rockford Charter School | 18% | 1.3% | 374 |
| Swan Hillman Elementary School | 17.8% | 1.5% | 563 |
| Abraham Lincoln Middle School | 16.4% | 1.7% | 690 |
| Legacy Academy of Excellence Charter School | 16.3% | 0% | 231 |
| R.K. Welsh Elementary School | 15.7% | 0% | 455 |
| Black Hawk Elementary School | 15.4% | 0% | 134 |
| Gregory Elementary School | 14.2% | 0% | 408 |
| C. Henry Bloom Elementary School | 14.1% | 0% | 417 |
| Whitehead Elementary School | 12.9% | 1.3% | 637 |
| Julia Lathrop Elementary School | 8.1% | 0% | 332 |
| Rockford Environmental Science Academy | 8% | 0% | 1,007 |
| Kennedy Middle School | 7.8% | 0.3% | 347 |
| Jackson Charter School | 7.6% | 0.8% | 245 |
| Riverdahl Elementary School | 7.2% | 0.4% | 528 |
| Washington Elementary School | 6% | 0% | 484 |
| Conklin Elementary School | 5.4% | 0% | 332 |
| Constance Lane Elementary School | 5.4% | 0% | 597 |
| Lewis Lemon Elementary School | 4.9% | 0% | 335 |
| Ellis Elementary School | 4.7% | 0% | 455 |
| McIntosh Elementary School | 2.7% | 0% | 405 |
Information in this story was obtained from the Illinois State Board of Education. The source data can be found here.
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