The top reported proficiency rate is 44% in Math. The lowest is 42% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Brown County Elementary School
Brown County Elementary School serves prekindergarten through fourth grade in Mount Sterling, a small county-seat city in west-central Illinois where civic life centers on the historic courthouse square and surrounding downtown. The school sits a few blocks east of downtown, part of a near-downtown cluster of school buildings rather than on the rural edge of town.
The school's enrollment is small. Demographically, the student body is predominantly white, with very few students of color. State testing data from the most recent year shows that in third grade, about half of students scored at or above proficiency in math, while fewer students met proficiency in English language arts. Fourth-grade results in both subjects fall below third-grade levels, with math proficiency dropping notably. Testing participation is complete in the grades where data is reported. The state changed its proficiency standards that year, so trend comparisons to prior years are not available yet.
The school serves grades that are tested under Illinois' assessment system, but fifth grade and higher grades are not part of this elementary school's grade band, so no results exist for those grades. Graduation rates and secondary attainment data do not apply here.
Data on free-and-reduced-price lunch eligibility, special education identification, and English learner enrollment was not available. Information about staffing, course breadth, discipline practices, and attendance was not provided.
Mount Sterling itself is experiencing modest growth led by Dot Foods, the nation's largest foodservice redistributor, which is headquartered there and has completed multiple expansions. The city is pursuing new housing through subdivision development and a vacant-lots-to-homes initiative. Median household income in the region runs somewhat above the national benchmark. Home values in the area are below both state and national medians, and mortgage rates and affordability metrics suggest housing is accessible for families with moderate incomes.
A parent may want to look into the elementary school's math and literacy instruction further with the school directly, given that fourth-grade proficiency dips noticeably from third grade, to understand what supports or instructional approaches the school uses in those grades. The small enrollment likely means a tight-knit setting where families know one another and staff know students well, though options within the school for differentiation or specialty programming would depend on what the school itself offers.
See more original research from School Decision →