Chambana Sun

Results are in and 73.1% of Piatt County students failed the mathematics 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 mathematics assessment in Piatt County rose by 2.7% compared to the previous school year.

In comparison, schools in Alexander County fared the worst among all Illinois counties, with 97.5% 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 46.8% of its students passing the mathematics 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%).

School	Students who did not meet standards (%)	Total students tested
Bement Elementary School	87.7%	57
Deland-Weldon Middle School	85%	20
Cerro Gordo Elementary School	83%	100
Atwood-Hammond Grade School	81.2%	133
Blue Ridge Intermediate and Junior High School	81%	204
Cerro Gordo Junior/Senior High School	75.2%	101
Monticello Middle School	72.5%	364
Deland-Weldon Elementary School	67.4%	43
White Heath Elementary School	67.1%	264
Bement Middle School	63.9%	72
Washington School	54.6%	119