Henry County students and their ELA performance in 2023-24 school year

IAR results are in and 58.7% of Henry County students failed the ELA portion of the test in the 2023-24 school year, according to the Illinois State Board of Education.

The students’ overall failure rate in the subject in Henry County rose by 13.7% compared to the previous school year.

In comparison, schools in Alexander County fared the worst among all Illinois counties, with 87.3% 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 60.7% of its students passing the ELA portion of the IAR.

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.