Latest Post | Last 10 Posts | Archives
Previous Post: SAFE-T Act coverage roundup
Next Post: Campaign notebook
Posted in:
Illinois’ annual school report card was released Thursday, with the state’s board of education touting the highest graduation rate in a decade and academic growth in students outpacing pre-pandemic levels.
While officials noted there’s still much work to be done following a disruption during the coronavirus pandemic, the numbers show gains in a variety of areas.
Last year, the Illinois State Board of Education noted data illustrated “the significant impact of the pandemic and remote learning on student enrollment, attendance, and academic achievement.”
This year, the report card showed average student growth rose in English language arts and math compared to 2021’s metrics. That growth stretched across every demographic group, officials said.
The 2022 state report card also shows continuing disparities among racial and ethnic groups, English language learners, and students with Individualized Education Programs (IEPs), according to a Chalkbeat analysis.
On the IAR and SAT, Asian American and white students far outpaced their Black and Hispanic peers, who were among the hardest hit by the pandemic.
The 2022 data shows that, on the IAR, only 6.9% of the state’s English language learners were proficient in reading and 6.8% were proficient in math. English language learners make up over 13% of the student population. […]
During Chicago’s school board meeting on Wednesday, district CEO Pedro Martinez acknowledged “significant drops in proficiency in math and reading” in both NAEP and state tests results. The declines are consistent with results from other school districts across the country, he said.
“This is data that is very sobering,” Martinez said, calling it “a reflection of the pandemic,” not of students’ abilities or the hard work of faculty.
The Tribune has some great background if you want data visualizations broken down by county.
While eight elementary schools in School District 186 moved into the “commendable” category, the district lags behind the state in graduation rates and chronic absenteeism, according to the 2022 Illinois State Board of Education report card, released Thursday.[…]
“Not having test scores for two full years has left a big gap in us being able to look at trend data or anything else,” [Superintendent Jennifer Gill] said. “We were so used to looking at three years to five years to seven years of trend data. Now, it really needs to be a start over and use this data as a kickoff to our next three- to five-year look.” […]
Much like initiatives started in the district, Gill projected it would be an overall “three- to five-year recovery” for the district from the effects of the pandemic, including students who engaged in online learning or who were otherwise affected by COVID. […]
Before the pandemic, 14 schools were in the “improvement” category, including eight “targeted” and six “comprehensive,” Gill said.
* Patch…
Test scores continued to decline in Lake Forest High School during the 2021-22 school year, newly released data from state education officials shows. […]
From 2021 to 2022, the percentage of Lake Forest High School 11th graders scoring at or above state standards on the test declined by 8 points to 60.6 percent in English language arts and fell by 2.6 points in math.
Back in 2017, more than 80 percent of LFHS juniors were scoring at or above state standards in English, with nearly 73 percent meeting math standards.
Test scores at Lake Forest High School are still better than the state average. Last year, just 29.8 percent of students met or exceeded English standards and just 28.8 percent met math proficiency standards statewide.
* Illinois Senate Democrats press release…
The 2022 Illinois State School Report Card indicated that every demographic in Illinois experienced accelerated growth in both English language arts and math, outpacing pre-pandemic levels. Children in grades 4 and 8 scored above the national average in reading and math, and high schoolers showed the highest graduation rate in over a decade.
“Illinois has taken monumental steps in ensuring that all children receive quality education that prioritizes their needs,” said Senate Majority Leader Kimberly A. Lightford (D-Maywood). “Today’s news is a positive step toward making education equitable and no longer letting ZIP codes determine the quality of a student’s education.”
The 2022 State School Report Card also showed an increase in teachers in Illinois. More than 2,500 full-time teachers joined the workforce, including more than 500 Black and Hispanic teachers. Teacher retention also hit a nine-year high with 87% of current teachers returning to the same school year to year.
* WMDB…
Some highlights of the 2022 state report card include increased student growth in English language arts and math across all demographics, exceeding pre-pandemic levels.
Illinois students also recorded an 87.3 graduation rate, the highest in 12 years. “Largely driven by black and Hispanic students,” Pritzker said. […]
While Illinois still faces challenges, Pritzker said the state is heading in the right direction.
“Nobody is suggesting the report card is perfect, it is not. But it is an indicator of directionally, things are getting better and accelerating in a way that I think is unexpected as compared to many other states,” Pritzker said.
* Daily Herald…
[State Superintendent of Education Carmen Ayala] identified student absenteeism as one area of focus for the state. The state report card shows 30% of students statewide as chronically absent — meaning they missed 17 or more days of school last year.
Absentee rates were higher across the state for students of color, low-income students and English language learners. Ayala noted states across the country saw similar absentee rates.
The Illinois State Board of Education has earmarked $12 million to help combat chronic absenteeism. Each of the state’s Regional Offices of Education received from $180,000 to $1.2 million this fall to address absenteeism through truancy intervention services, including counseling, home visits, transportation and mentoring.
“This school year we have an opportunity and obligation to work toward addressing those challenges,” Ayala said.
* More…
* McLean County districts react to 2022 Illinois Report Card: The 2022 Illinois Report Card is the first since 2019 to include summative designations, though some administrators say schools have not yet recovered enough from the pandemic for those to be fair measures, if they ever can be.
* Report card designates four area schools as ‘targeted’: The report card, released Thursday, designates Iles Elementary and Lincoln-Douglas Elementary as “targeted” schools along with Hamilton Elementary based on performance of children with disabilities. LaHarpe Elementary was designated as “targeted” due to performance of low-income students, while other schools across Adams, Brown, Hancock and Pike counties were designated “commendable.”
* State identifies Sauk Valley’s Exemplary, Targeted schools in latest report card: Six schools in the Sauk Valley region were categorized as Exemplary by the 2022 Illinois Report Card, the Illinois State Board of Education released Thursday morning. Another four schools carried the Targeted tag, requiring them to develop a four-year action plan to address a specific need; in their cases, how they can improve education for children with disabilities.
* River Trails District 26 schools receive ‘commendable’ designations in state report card: Euclid Elementary School, Indian Grove Elementary School and River Trails Middle School were placed into the second tier of summative designations. The district’s fourth school, Prairie Trails, did not receive a designation based on its status as an early learning center. “The report card results support what we already knew - River Trails’s students and staff are impressive,” Superintendent Dr. Jodi Megerle said. “I could not be prouder of what the district has accomplished in the past year or more eager to see what we can accomplish moving forward.”
posted by Isabel Miller
Friday, Oct 28, 22 @ 12:46 pm
Sorry, comments are closed at this time.
Previous Post: SAFE-T Act coverage roundup
Next Post: Campaign notebook
WordPress Mobile Edition available at alexking.org.
powered by WordPress.
Student growth rate without actual metric improvements is not something to crow about. To illustrate, if you start at 20 in 8th grade, a 50% growth rate will get you to 30. If you are at 28, a 10% growth rate will get you to 30. But neither are good outcomes, if you need 70 to meet basic proficiency.
Comment by Mary Friday, Oct 28, 22 @ 1:01 pm
Yes, I know the pandemic didn’t help, but the education system has been failing for years. All this report does is highlight it is failing a bit less.
In District 186 (Springfield), ,it was interesting to read, in the SJR, all the spin on how they weren’t so I tested in the absolute numbers / rankings, but wanted to talk about how the momentum inclosing the gap from bad to less bad had improved.
Yes, it’s improvement … but that’s like saying things are great because we’ve moved from a F- to a F. What else can you say about a system where only 1/3 - 2/5’s are at grade level achievement wise? I’ll skip a rant on why I feel this way and just say I’m somewhat involved in trying to get another alternative school started here.
Comment by RNUG Friday, Oct 28, 22 @ 1:02 pm
interested … not I tested
Comment by RNUG Friday, Oct 28, 22 @ 1:03 pm
Chronic absenteeism is a large and growing problem in the Springfield grade schools. I know we don’t want to do silly things we did in the past, like take the children away from the parents, but the pendulum has swung too far in doing nothing for these kids futures.
Comment by Lurker Friday, Oct 28, 22 @ 1:36 pm
=Yes, I know the pandemic didn’t help, but the education system has been failing for years. All this report does is highlight it is failing a bit less.=
With respect, when parents and guardians do not send their children to school, it is pretty tough to educate them.
When parents and guardians do not reinforce the value of an education, have expectations of their children to do their work, and fight you over grades because their child is no ineligible for the Friday night game… success is unlikely.
We spend so much of our time and resources on non instructional things, what is happening in schools is a minor miracle.
The ILGA led by people like kim lightford have stripped students and families of any responsibility and placed it entirely on schools.
Schools are not failing. That is not to say they are perfect by any measure, but more than 50% of the responsibility for what is going on now lies firmly in the house.
Comment by JS Mill Friday, Oct 28, 22 @ 1:48 pm
Another wheel just fell off the Proftmobile.
I am sure a story from Wirepoints applauding the turnaround will be out soon, quoting IPI. /s
Comment by Thomas Paine Friday, Oct 28, 22 @ 1:59 pm
Parent-Teacher Confereces the last two days. Relevant to this post, the 2nd grader’s teacher said two things:
1) Last year, she felt like she was teaching advanced kindergarten/early 1st. This year, it’s more of a mix, she said…some kids still at K, a few 2nd or higher, most in-between. It’s just anecdotal but it would fit the ‘closing gap’ narrative.
2) Less than half of the parents made PTC appointments. The teacher says she has students whose parents haven’t responded to a single message or email sent home this year. I’m sure that’s not too unusual, but it’s just frustrating to hear “the schools are failing” when parents simply don’t do their part.
Comment by Concerned Observer Friday, Oct 28, 22 @ 2:38 pm
We have been misusing test scores going back to A Nation at Risk, which itself was based on an intentional deception, to say how much schools suck when most of them are pretty good. Should Springfield kick out it’s poor people so it can test like the “good” districts. Illinois has segregated it’s schools terribly in the last twenty years. Only in the last few has the finding at least gotten more equitable
Comment by DTownResident Friday, Oct 28, 22 @ 2:49 pm
No doubt that parents, or lack thereof, is part of the equation. I’ve ranted on that in the past. But you have to play the cards you are dealt. The education system has to be made to work in spite of negligent parents.
Comment by RNUG Friday, Oct 28, 22 @ 4:11 pm