The top reported proficiency rate is 64% in English language arts. The lowest is 20% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Central Junior High
Central Junior High serves seventh and eighth grades in Kewanee, a small city in northwestern Illinois marked by gradual population decline and an economy historically rooted in agriculture and light manufacturing. The school enrolls a modest, diverse student body. Racial and ethnic composition reflects Kewanee's demographics: a majority white enrollment alongside meaningful shares of Hispanic and Black students, with smaller numbers of multiracial students and none of Asian, Native Hawaiian, or Native American descent.
Illinois Assessment of Readiness (IAR) test results from the most recent school year show a striking imbalance between reading and math. In seventh-grade English language arts, students performed well, with a substantial majority meeting or exceeding proficiency. Eighth-grade performance in English held solid, with about half meeting the standard. Math tells a different story. Seventh-grade math proficiency was substantially below that in reading, at less than one-third of students, and eighth-grade math proficiency dropped further, to about one in seven students. These gaps suggest students are stronger readers than mathematicians as they move through junior high. Science testing at eighth grade showed roughly two in five students meeting proficiency, a middle ground between the stronger reading and weaker math results.
When compared to other districts in Henry County, Central Junior High's overall proficiency across tested grades and subjects places it in the bottom quartile. The school's average proficiency rate is notably lower than the county median and the higher performers in the region, indicating an area where parents may want to understand more about the school's approach to skill-building, particularly in mathematics.
Test participation rates were consistently high, near total across all tested grades and subjects, showing that the school successfully got students to the assessment.
The school sits on a residential campus at 215 East Central Boulevard, separate from downtown Kewanee's civic cluster. Kewanee itself is an affordable housing market, with median home values well below state norms. The city has experienced gradual decline in population and new construction, though recent municipal efforts have focused on adaptive reuse and downtown revitalization rather than sprawling new development. The local labor market centers on state operations (including a correctional facility), agricultural cooperatives, manufacturing, and healthcare. The Amtrak station offers commuter rail service to Chicago and other cities; local transit is limited to dial-a-ride service.
No state testing data is available for grades three through six because those grades are not tested under Illinois's assessment framework for this school. Information on the school's special education services, English learner supports, free or reduced-price lunch eligibility, teacher staffing, course offerings, discipline practices, and attendance rates was not available in the sources reviewed. The parent district, Kewanee CUSD 229, has recently completed facility upgrades at the high school including a new auditorium and career-technical education classrooms funded without local property-tax increases, and has pursued capital repairs and HVAC upgrades across school buildings as part of a multi-year recovery effort following storm damage.
See more original research from School Decision →