Best Elementary Schools in Illinois for African American Students

Check out our new feature available only on SchoolDigger: rankings for different groups of students in Illinois!

Every year, the Illinois State Board of Education shares test results for various student groups in each school. We use these results to find out which schools do best for each group and list them from the best to the worst.

Additionally, we also compare the performance of the subgroup to the performance of the school as a whole. This makes it easy to see if, for example, African American students are overperforming or underperforming their peers in each school.

Year after year, SchoolDigger is always the first to publish Illinois test scores and rankings. Other sites use stale test score data that are several years old! Be in the know with the very latest performance metrics.

The list is updated annually upon the release of the ISA and IAR test scores by the Illinois State Board of Education. The most recent update was on Thursday, October 30, 2025.

Be the first to know when we post new test scores and rankings!

School														Students/Teachers											Per Pupil Expenditures (2025)							Ranking (African American vs All Students - 2025)					ID
Rank (of 688)	School	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/Disc Lunch Recipients	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Per Pupil Expenditures: Total	Personnel from Federal Funds	Non-Personnel from Federal Funds	Total from Federal Funds	Personnel from State and Local Funds	Non-Personnel from State and Local Funds	Total from State and Local Funds	Statewide Rank Percentile (African American)	Statewide Rank Percentile (All Students)	Rank Percentile Difference from All Students	SchoolDigger Rating (African American)	SchoolDigger Rating (All Students)	ID
688	Hearst Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	4640 S Lamon Ave	Chicago	60638	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(773) 535-2376	285	32	8.9	84.6%	8 (2.8%)	90 (31.6%)	185 (64.9%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.4%)	$29,372			$3,182			$26,190	0.0%	6.9%	6.91%			170993000836
686	Hawthorn Elementary School South	Public	1-5	430 N Aspen Dr	Vernon Hills	60061	Lake County	Hawthorn CCSD 73	No	(n/a)	No	No	(847) 990-4800	505	46	10.8	30.7%	183 (36.2%)	38 (7.5%)	77 (15.2%)	169 (33.5%)	7 (1.4%)	1 (0.2%)	30 (5.9%)	$18,957			$203			$18,754	0.3%	58.0%	57.73%			171857005172
686	Parkside Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-5	1900 W College Ave	Normal	61761	McLean County	McLean County Unified School District 5	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(309) 557-4422	322	23	13.9	53.1%	164 (50.9%)	45 (14.0%)	64 (19.9%)	5 (1.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	44 (13.7%)	$16,679			$1,622			$15,057	0.3%	36.3%	36.04%			172862005321
685	Hope Academy	Public	K-8	955 N Illinois St	Decatur	62521	Macon County	Decatur School District 61	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(217) 362-3280	501	36	13.9	93.8%	98 (19.6%)	320 (63.9%)	17 (3.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	66 (13.2%)	$18,499			$2,201			$16,298	0.4%	0.0%	0.44%			171185005629
684	Matheny-Withrow Elementary School	Public	K-5	1200 S Pope Ave	Springfield	62703	Sangamon County	Springfield School District 186	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(217) 525-3245	216	21	10.1	83.3%	32 (14.8%)	151 (69.9%)	7 (3.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	26 (12.0%)	$25,788			$2,268			$23,520	0.6%	0.2%	0.39%			173708003831
683	Lincoln Elementary School	Public	K-5	220 E Sunset Pl	DeKalb	60115	DeKalb County	DeKalb CUSD 428	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(815) 754-2212	272	17	15.8	62.9%	100 (36.8%)	123 (45.2%)	28 (10.3%)	1 (0.4%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	19 (7.0%)	$18,066			$1,371			$16,695	0.7%	10.1%	9.34%			171200001452
682	Dennis Lab School	Public	K-8	300 Meadow Terrace Pl	Decatur	62521	Macon County	Decatur School District 61	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(217) 362-3511	579	35	16.5	84.6%	164 (28.3%)	289 (49.9%)	43 (7.4%)	2 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	81 (14.0%)	$16,353			$1,930			$14,423	0.9%	2.3%	1.46%			171185001399
681	Constance Lane Elementary School	Public	K-5	620 Gregory St	Rockford	61104	Winnebago County	Rockford School District 205	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(815) 966-3380	623	39	15.8	90.5%	74 (11.9%)	357 (57.3%)	110 (17.7%)	14 (2.2%)	2 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	66 (10.6%)	$16,942			$2,332			$14,611	1.0%	0.2%	0.77%			173451003580
680	Lewis Lemon Elementary	Public	K-5	1993 Mulberry St	Rockford	61101	Winnebago County	Rockford School District 205	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(815) 967-8000	378	23	16.3	91.8%	39 (10.3%)	200 (52.9%)	107 (28.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	32 (8.5%)	$20,263			$2,933			$17,330	1.2%	0.3%	0.82%			173451000240
679	Plato Learning Academy Elementary School	Public	K-8	5545 W Harrison St	Chicago	60644	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(773) 413-3090	157	8	19.6	97.5%	0 (0.0%)	152 (96.8%)	5 (3.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$21,172			$82			$21,090	1.3%	0.0%	1.26%			170993005980

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Other SchoolDigger ranking lists for Illinois

Elementary Schools Middle Schools High Schools Districts Cities

New! SchoolDigger ranking lists for IL student subgroups:

Female Students Male Students Asian Students Hispanic Students White Students Multi-racial Students English Language Learner Students Special Education Students Low Socio Economic Status Students Homeless Students Disabled Students

About our rankings:

Schooldigger calculates school rankings based on IAR English Language Arts, IAR Mathematics, ISA Science test scores released by the Illinois State Board of Education.
These rankings were last updated on October 30, 2025, and are based on the most recent test scores available. We update rankings as we receive new test scores from the Illinois State Board of Education, usually on a yearly basis.
Our sources of data include the National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education and the Illinois State Board of Education.
For more information about our ranking process, please see our Ranking FAQ. Details about our methodology are here.

Educational resources:

State-Administered Standardized Tests: A Comprehensive Guide

Girl in a wheelchair raising her hand in a classroom setting

Understanding an IEP: The Ultimate Guide for Parents and Educators

SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau, the Illinois Department of Public Health and the Illinois State Board of Education.