Quantcast

Southern Illinois News

Friday, May 2, 2025

Test expectations: How many Meridian Community Unit School District 101 students failed to meet math IAR expectations in 2023-24 school year?

Webp e xvkbvvcaaqklqlimparlimpar

Jason Helfer Chief Education Officer - Instruction | Twitter

Jason Helfer Chief Education Officer - Instruction | Twitter

In the 2023-24 school year, 96.9% of Meridian Community Unit School District 101 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 3.1% who did.

The total number Meridian Community Unit School District 101 students who failed their math assessments fell by 1.4% from the previous school year.

Meridian Community Unit School District 101 roughly covers schools within Pulaski County and has a main office in Mounds.

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.

Pulaski's Students Failure Rates in Math Over 4 Years

20212022202320240%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%96%75%91%74%98%73%97%72%Meridian Community Unit School District 101Illinois
Students who Didn't Meet Academic Standards in math During 2023-24 school year
SchoolDistrictStudents who did not meet met standards (%)
Meridian High SchoolMeridian Community Unit School District 10198.5%
Meridian Elementary SchoolMeridian Community Unit School District 10195.7%

MORE NEWS