West Salem Grade School, West Salem IL

Original Research by School Decision on West Salem Grade School

West Salem Grade School serves the small rural village of West Salem, in northeastern Edwards County, and enrolls students in prekindergarten through eighth grade. The school is the primary civic anchor for the village, located on East School Street near the heart of a compact, predominantly residential community of declining population. Students who complete eighth grade move on to Edwards County High School in Albion, roughly ten to twelve miles away.

The school enrolls a small student body, nearly all of whom are white. The precise number of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch was not available in the data, so a parent may want to ask the school directly about the economic profile of the enrollment and what support services are available. Special education and English learner enrollment counts were also not reported.

In English language arts, the school shows strength in the middle grades. Fourth-grade students reached a proficiency rate above the midpoint, fifth graders performed solidly, and seventh-grade proficiency was particularly strong. Third grade and sixth grade showed solid performance as well. Eighth-grade results were somewhat lower, though still above the midpoint. The pattern suggests students typically build reading and writing competence through the elementary years and hold that ground in middle school.

Mathematics tells a different story. Third and fifth graders performed around or above the midpoint, but starting in fourth grade and accelerating in sixth through eighth, proficiency drops sharply. By sixth grade, proficiency fell below the midpoint, and by seventh and eighth grade, fewer than half of tested students met the standard. This downward trajectory in the upper middle grades, especially in mathematics, is a soft spot worth exploring with the school. A parent may want to ask whether the school has identified the source of this decline and what supports are in place for students struggling with math in grades six through eight.

Science proficiency data are available only for fifth and eighth grades; both showed low results, well below the midpoint. This limited data window makes it difficult to assess the full picture, but science is an area where the school appears to need attention.

All students sat for state assessments in most grades, showing near-universal participation, which reflects the school's commitment to testing compliance.

The school is a regular public school serving a tight-knit village with few commercial anchors, a small tax base, and a long trajectory of population decline. Housing values in the area are relatively modest, and the median age of the community skews older. The village has a library, small parks, and a volunteer fire department, but little in the way of new economic activity. Agriculture and employment in nearby Albion remain the economic backbone. For families in West Salem, this school is the local option for grades PK-8; those staying in the district after eighth grade commute to Albion.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 369%

School 69% · District 54% · ▲ 16 pts above district

▲ 23 pts above state median

Grade 460%

School 60% · District 45% · ▲ 15 pts above district

▲ 23 pts above state median

Grade 577%

School 77% · District 39% · ▲ 38 pts above district

▲ 47 pts above state median

Grade 647%

School 47% · District 44% · ▲ 3 pts above district

▲ 23 pts above state median

Grade 735%

School 35% · District 35%

▲ 6 pts above state median

Grade 819%

School 19% · District 31% · ▼ 12 pts below district

▼ 4 pts below state median

English language arts

Grade 377%

School 77% · District 61% · ▲ 16 pts above district

▲ 33 pts above state median

Grade 487%

School 87% · District 69% · ▲ 18 pts above district

▲ 39 pts above state median

Grade 585%

School 85% · District 73% · ▲ 11 pts above district

▲ 32 pts above state median

Grade 671%

School 71% · District 68% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▲ 20 pts above state median

Grade 785%

School 85% · District 81% · ▲ 4 pts above district

▲ 34 pts above state median

Grade 871%

School 71% · District 77% · ▼ 5 pts below district

▲ 18 pts above state median

Science

Grade 539%

School 39% · District 38% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▲ 2 pts above state median

Grade 833%

School 33% · District 52% · ▼ 19 pts below district

▼ 6 pts below state median

This schoolEdwards County CUSD 1, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.