In the 2023-24 school year, 76.9% of Joliet Public School District 86 students failed the ELA 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 ELA portion of the IAR compared to the 23.1% who did.
The total number Joliet Public School District 86 students who failed their ELA assessments fell by 4.9% from the previous school year.
Joliet Public School District 86 roughly covers schools within Will County and has a main office in Joliet.
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.Â
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.
| School | District | Students who did not meet met standards (%) |
|---|---|---|
| Carl Sandburg Elementary School | Joliet Public School District 86 | 94% |
| Edna Keith Elementary School | Joliet Public School District 86 | 92.9% |
| Sator Sanchez Elementary School | Joliet Public School District 86 | 92.3% |
| Woodland Elementary School | Joliet Public School District 86 | 87.8% |
| Pershing Elementary School | Joliet Public School District 86 | 86.8% |
| M.J. Cunningham Elementary School | Joliet Public School District 86 | 86.3% |
| Lynne Thigpen Elementary School | Joliet Public School District 86 | 86.1% |
| A.O. Marshall Elementary School | Joliet Public School District 86 | 85.3% |
| Farragut Elementary School | Joliet Public School District 86 | 85.1% |
| Taft Elementary School | Joliet Public School District 86 | 81% |
| Isaac Singleton Elementary School | Joliet Public School District 86 | 81% |
| Washington Junior High and Academy Program | Joliet Public School District 86 | 79.1% |
| Thomas Jefferson Elementary School | Joliet Public School District 86 | 79% |
| T.E. Culbertson Elementary School | Joliet Public School District 86 | 77.4% |
| Hufford Junior High School | Joliet Public School District 86 | 70.5% |
| Dirksen Junior High School | Joliet Public School District 86 | 69.5% |
| Gompers Junior High School | Joliet Public School District 86 | 68.3% |
| Forest Park Individual Education School | Joliet Public School District 86 | 58.4% |
| Eisenhower Academy | Joliet Public School District 86 | 20% |



