According to the state’s 2024 ILEARN examinations, 28.4% of VCSC third graders were proficient in both the reading and math portions of the test. That is slightly below the state average of 30.8%. All of the test results quoted will be from this category.

Local results, however, varied widely between individual schools. Over 40% of students at Lost Creek (45.5%) and Dixie Bee (43.9%) were proficient in reading and math, compared to less than 10% of students at Ouabache (7.7%) and Farrington Grove (7.5%). See full list of scores below.

Compared to results from last year, some schools scores were up and some were down. Farrington Grove went from 3.3% in 2023 to 7.5% in 2024, while Dixie Bee went from 54.3% to 43.9%. The Corporation overall rose from 26.4% in 2023 to 28.4% this year.

The disparity between urban and rural schools in Vigo County has existed for years, and the boundaries of lower performing schools have been shown to relate directly to historic redlining practices (pictured below).

When test results were sorted by ethnicity with at least 50 children tested, Asian students had the highest percentage of proficiency with 53.2% followed by White (25%), Multiracial (15.5%), Hispanic (14.6%), then Black (9.3%).

According to an article in the Tribune Star, VCSC superintendent Chris Himsel was quoted as saying, “My initial reaction to the test results is, I had no reaction. The test scores are irrelevant; they don’t really mean a whole lot. They are one piece of a puzzle — that’s all it is.”