Lincoln School, Peoria IL - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Lincoln School

Lincoln School serves students from kindergarten through eighth grade in Peoria, a mid-sized Illinois city anchored by healthcare and manufacturing employment, with a downtown and warehouse district undergoing adaptive reuse. The school is part of Peoria School District 150.

The school enrolls a student body that is majority Black and Hispanic, with smaller populations of white students and students of two or more races. The enrollment spans all grades from kindergarten through eighth, with the largest enrollment in sixth grade and moderate enrollment across the primary and middle grades.

Academic performance at Lincoln School presents a significant challenge. Reading proficiency across grades three through eight is notably low. In grade three, roughly one in five students score at grade level in English language arts; proficiency declines steeply in the upper elementary and middle grades, dropping to single digits by eighth grade. The pattern is even steeper in mathematics: only about one in eleven students in grade three meet proficiency, and in grade eight that falls to one in forty. Science proficiency is similarly low. These results place the school in the bottom quartile among districts in Peoria County for overall proficiency.

This moment matters for families because the district undertook a major curriculum shift in April 2026. The school board approved a nearly two-million-dollar overhaul of K-5 reading materials, replacing textbooks in place since 2012 with science-of-reading aligned programs including Curriculum Associates' Magnetic Literacy for grades K-4 and HMH Into Reading for fifth grade. The district also offers Spanish language versions. This is a deliberate return to phonics and evidence-based literacy instruction, signaling recognition that the prior curriculum was not serving students effectively. A parent considering Lincoln School should know the timeline: this new curriculum will define elementary reading instruction for the next six years, and early results will take time to measure.

The school occupies a particular place in its community. It is a regular public elementary and middle school with no specialized magnet programming. Data on chronic absenteeism, discipline, staffing depth, and course offerings were not available, so a parent may want to look into those areas with the school directly to understand the full picture of the learning environment and support systems in place.

The housing market around Peoria reflects modest affordability compared to state and national benchmarks. Home values in the area are moderate, and rental costs are lower than the national average. The real estate market shows steady activity with a moderate supply of listings and relatively stable pricing, suggesting a stable rather than rapidly appreciating market. This positioning makes the district accessible to families across a range of income levels.

Peoria itself is in a period of focused redevelopment rather than rapid growth. The city is pursuing affordable housing initiatives and adaptive reuse of downtown and warehouse buildings, with infrastructure investment underway. Employment remains anchored by OSF Healthcare and Caterpillar, with broader diversification in manufacturing. Public transit through CityLink connects schools across multiple communities, and the riverfront, Glen Oak Park with the Peoria Zoo, and the PlayHouse Children's Museum anchor civic life.

For families, Lincoln School represents an elementary and middle school setting where academic achievement is currently below grade-level benchmarks across tested subjects, but where the district has just committed significant resources to overhauling the reading curriculum. The school's success will depend partly on implementation of these new materials and partly on the classroom-level conditions, staffing stability, and student support that were not captured in the available data. A parent evaluating the school should have a direct conversation with the school about the curriculum transition timeline, what additional interventions or support systems are in place for students reading below grade level, and what the school's own plans are for monitoring and improving outcomes over the next year and beyond.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 39%

School 9% · District 27% · ▼ 17 pts below district

▼ 37 pts below state median · ▼ 35 pts below county median

Grade 49%

School 9% · District 20% · ▼ 11 pts below district

▼ 28 pts below state median · ▼ 26 pts below county median

Grade 56%

School 6% · District 16% · ▼ 10 pts below district

▼ 24 pts below state median · ▼ 26 pts below county median

Grade 67%

School 7% · District 14% · ▼ 7 pts below district

▼ 17 pts below state median · ▼ 13 pts below county median

Grade 712%

School 12% · District 20% · ▼ 8 pts below district

▼ 17 pts below state median · ▼ 18 pts below county median

Grade 82%

School 2% · District 13% · ▼ 10 pts below district

▼ 20 pts below state median · ▼ 14 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 319%

School 19% · District 30% · ▼ 12 pts below district

▼ 25 pts below state median · ▼ 22 pts below county median

Grade 410%

School 10% · District 28% · ▼ 18 pts below district

▼ 38 pts below state median · ▼ 39 pts below county median

Grade 513%

School 13% · District 29% · ▼ 16 pts below district

▼ 39 pts below state median · ▼ 34 pts below county median

Grade 614%

School 14% · District 27% · ▼ 14 pts below district

▼ 37 pts below state median · ▼ 29 pts below county median

Grade 712%

School 12% · District 25% · ▼ 13 pts below district

▼ 39 pts below state median · ▼ 28 pts below county median

Grade 88%

School 8% · District 35% · ▼ 26 pts below district

▼ 45 pts below state median · ▼ 39 pts below county median

Science

Grade 56%

School 6% · District 18% · ▼ 11 pts below district

▼ 31 pts below state median · ▼ 23 pts below county median

Grade 84%

School 4% · District 21% · ▼ 17 pts below district

▼ 36 pts below state median · ▼ 26 pts below county median

This schoolPeoria SD 150, 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.