East Central Reporter

In the 2023-24 school year, 48.6% of the students in Arthur Community Unit School District 305 passed the ELA portion of the Illinois Assessment of Readiness (IAR), according to the Illinois State Board of Education.

Of the 387 students in Arthur Community Unit School District 305 who took the ELA portion of the test, approximately 188 (48.6%) passed.

The percentage of Arthur Community Unit School District 305 students who met or exceeded expectations on the IAR increased by 13.4% compared to the previous school year.

Arthur Community Unit School District 305 roughly covers four schools within Douglas County and has a main office in Arthur.

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 (%)
Atwood-Hammond Grade School	Arthur Community Unit School District 305	49.6%	4.3%
Arthur Grade School	Arthur Community Unit School District 305	44.8%	8.6%
Lovington Grade School	Arthur Community Unit School District 305	27.7%	2.4%