In the 2023-24 school year, 42.2% of the students in Chester Community Unit School District 139 passed the ELA portion of the Illinois Assessment of Readiness (IAR), according to the Illinois State Board of Education.
Of the 367 students in Chester Community Unit School District 139 who took the ELA portion of the test, approximately 155 (42.2%) passed.
The percentage of Chester Community Unit School District 139 students who met or exceeded expectations on the IAR increased by 4.5% compared to the previous school year.
Chester Community Unit School District 139 roughly covers two schools within Randolph County and has a main office in Chester.
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.
K-12 enrollment has been declining in Illinois for many years, reflecting the state’s demographic changes. Between the 2019–20 and 2022–23 school years, Illinois public school enrollment declined from approximately 1.98 million to 1.85 million students, a decrease of about 127,000 students or 6.4%. This decline is significantly higher than the typical annual decreases of 0.5% to 1.5% observed in the preceding years, reflecting broader demographic shifts within the state.
| School | District | Students who met standards (%) | Students who exceed standards (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chester Elementary School | Chester Community Unit School District 139 | 36.5% | 5.7% |
