The top reported proficiency rate is 29% in English language arts. The lowest is 19% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Coleman Elem School
Coleman Elementary serves grades prekindergarten through sixth in Elgin as part of School District U-46, the second-largest district in Illinois. The school is located on Dundee Avenue in a neighborhood that is heavily Hispanic, with the vast majority of students identifying as Latino. The enrollment is moderate in size for an elementary school serving this grade span.
The 2024-25 state test results show consistent academic challenge across mathematics and English language arts. In math, proficiency rates decline as students progress through grades, starting at roughly one-quarter of third graders meeting state standards, dropping to around one-fifth in fourth grade, and falling to roughly one-seventh by fifth grade and one-ninth by sixth grade. English language arts results are somewhat less uniform: third and fourth graders show similar struggles, with just under one-fifth and roughly one-quarter proficient respectively, but performance improves notably in fifth grade, where about two-fifths of students meet standards, then settles to about three-tenths proficient in sixth grade. In science, measured only in fifth grade, roughly one-quarter of students demonstrated proficiency. All students participated in the state assessments; participation rates were very high.
These results position Coleman in the bottom quartile for overall proficiency among the districts in Kane County. The data does not allow for comparison across multiple years, as the state changed proficiency cut scores this year, making trend analysis unsafe. A parent may want to look into further with the school what targeted supports exist in mathematics and how the gains visible in fifth-grade literacy instruction are being leveraged across grades.
The school does not report free-or-reduced-price-lunch rates, so the share of economically disadvantaged students served is not available. Neither English learner identification rates nor special education enrollment counts are public for this school.
Elgin itself is a mid-sized city about thirty-five to forty miles northwest of Chicago with a multicultural identity shaped by a 19th-century manufacturing past, notably watchmaking, and strong Latino and Laotian American communities. The downtown anchors the civic life around the Fox River, home to the Gail Borden Public Library, the Hemmens Cultural Center, three Metra stations connecting to Chicago, and a walkable historic commercial district. Beyond downtown, much of Elgin is car-oriented suburban development. The city is in active growth, with new apartments opening downtown, hundreds of permits issued for new homes in west Elgin along the Randall Road corridor, and several major projects planned for 2026, including a new middle school in the U-46 district and manufacturing facilities at Elgin Community College. Housing values in the area are moderate; median rent is relatively affordable in regional terms, though the price-to-income ratio suggests housing costs are roughly five times annual household income.
District U-46 is undergoing substantial change. A bond referendum passed in April 2023 without a tax rate increase is funding rebuilds of five aging elementary schools, including three in Elgin (Lowrie, McKinley, and Century Oaks). Two new middle schools are being built: Hawk Hollow opened in Bartlett for 2025-26, and Legacy Middle School opens in Elgin in 2027. The district is shifting to a 6-8 middle school model with daily advisory periods for social-emotional learning and academic intervention, along with new math curriculum (Reveal Math) and an English language arts pilot. Starting in 2025-26, all thirty-eight elementary schools extended their school day to increase instructional time under a new teachers union contract. These changes reshape building assignments, instructional time, and school schedules across every grade level in the district.
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