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* Freedom Caucus member and likely gubernatorial candidate doesn’t understand how numbers work…
The Chalkbeat story is here.
* As we’ve discussed many, many times before, Illinois’ proficiency standards are higher than almost all other states…
Illinois has some of the most rigorous learning standards in the nation: ranking fourth most rigorous for 4th grade reading and fifth most rigorous for 8th grade reading. In Illinois, a student needs to earn a level of 4 or 5 to be considered proficient. In comparison, the rigor of Florida’s standards ranks 39th and 42nd, respectively, and a student only needs to earn a level 3 on the state assessment to be considered proficient.
We simply set the bar much higher for our kids. So, when those students don’t clear that high bar, they’re labeled as not proficient, but they would be labeled as proficient in lots of other states.
* “Other states like Mississippi are getting better results,” Wilhour said. Nonsense! Not even close. That’s just plain ridiculous. From the National Assessment of Educational Progress…
The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) has periodically published reports using results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) to compare the proficiency standards states and jurisdictions set for their students. The latest report highlights the results of mapping state proficiency standards onto the NAEP scales using state/jurisdiction assessment results from the 2021–22 school year and the 2022 NAEP assessments for public schools.
* The NAEP did an apples to apples comparison and found that Illinois was third highest in the nation for 8th Grade math, while Mississippi was third from the bottom.
According to the NAEP, Illinois was second highest in 8th Grade reading, while Mississippi was fourth from the bottom.
Fourth grade math? Illinois was number one. Mississippi was 15th.
Fourth grade reading? Illinois was fourth and Mississippi was 22nd.
Stop insulting our school kids, Blaine. After all, they appear to be better at both math and reading comprehension than you.
…Adding… Rep. Wilhour…
Two things are abundantly clear: Illinois government schools are struggling with proficiency and we spend a tremendous amount of money.
Will lowering proficiency standards help more students read or do math proficiently? […]
The answer is no. It’s a misdirection designed to deflect negative and necessary attention. We have a proficiency crisis in our government schools.
Illinois low state scores are in line with the low scores on national assessments-either way it’s a failure.
We can either strive for excellence and accountability or we can move the goalposts.
As for Mississippi, it is well documented that the literacy rates, which were extremely poor, are increasing at a pace that is worthy of study-for many reasons. They are also doing so at a fraction of the money spent.
posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, May 20, 25 @ 10:56 am
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- Mississippi was third from the bottom. -
That likely still puts most Mississippi 8th graders ahead of Rep. Wilhour.
Comment by Excitable Boy Tuesday, May 20, 25 @ 11:09 am
Let’s be more like Mississippi!
LOL man. You couldn’t even sell that to the 15-20 people who are currently happy to be in Mississippi.
Golly I wonder why rural America got emptied out of all the people who can read and think.
Comment by Larry Bowa Jr. Tuesday, May 20, 25 @ 11:13 am
Based on his post, also unclear on the difference between “lead” the noun (as in metallic element), “lead” the noun (as in “lost the lead in the race”) and the present tense (lead) and past tense (led) of the verb. Grammarin’ is hard.
Comment by 1995 Tuesday, May 20, 25 @ 11:15 am
When the narrative doesn’t match reality, the far right just makes stuff up hoping they won’t be fact-checked. And when their claims are debunked they blame ‘fake news’. It’s really a no-risk strategy when communicating to their base. Life must be much easier when you don’t have to worry about truth or candor.
Comment by Cubs in '16 Tuesday, May 20, 25 @ 11:18 am
Math Proficiency in Wilhour’s District:
Olney High School: 18%
Vandalia High School: 16%
Salem High School: 22%
Centralia High School: 15%
I would love to see Wilhour show up at his local high schools to demand answers on why his districts’ principals, teachers, students and parents are doing so poorly.
Tell me its DEI, please, please, please!
Comment by Thomas Paine Tuesday, May 20, 25 @ 11:19 am
These people (freedom caucus) are frauds, know-nothings, and ignorant.
They have no problem criticizing and ridiculing any resident of our state some long as it fits within their preconceived ideological narrative.
The fact that they did not even bother to check in on the vigor of the Mississippi standards (which would not be terribly hard to figure out, literally thinking about it for more than two seconds ought to have been sufficient) tells us just about everything we need to know about their critiques.
Comment by Juice Tuesday, May 20, 25 @ 11:25 am
He lost me when he suggested there are trademarks on the words, “Illinois Educational Industrial Complex,” and “Proficiency Deniers.”
And then he suggest Mississippi should be emulated. Mississippi. The state which has historically defined the bottom of the barrel. It rose from last to next to last, and Wilhour wants to compete with Mississippi for the worst state for education.
Perhaps Wilhour is also unclear on Wynonna’s song, Rock Bottom, and its relevance to Mississippi:
“When you hit rock bottom
You’ve got two ways to go
Straight up and sideways.”
Similarly, Illinois:
When you are at the top, you can either stay the course and remain among the top, or you can screw things up and pursue failure. I choose the former, while Mr. Wilhour seems to prefer the latter. That should serve him poorly in the election.
Comment by H-W Tuesday, May 20, 25 @ 11:29 am
==Other states like Mississippi are getting better results==
When adjusted for student demographics.
Blaine misunderstood the results. Mississippi now has the best demographic-adjusted NAEP scores, not overall scores. There is a difference.
What’s happening in Mississippi could very well serve as a template elsewhere - especially in minority communities - if people can get past the politics.
Comment by City Zen Tuesday, May 20, 25 @ 11:30 am
Recent newspaper articles have highlighted reading gains in Louisiana and Mississippi due to the reintroduction of phonics, showing that teaching methods can make regardless of funding, although that is not really related to the arguments here.
Comment by Jibba Tuesday, May 20, 25 @ 11:31 am
As someone who went to 1st to 3rd grade in the Mississippi public education system I can tell everyone we do not want to do anything educationally like Mississippi. I lived in a town of about 10,000 and the best thing those schools did for the kids that attended was provide them with breakfast and lunch … meals many of them would not have gotten at home.
Comment by Neef Jr. Tuesday, May 20, 25 @ 11:37 am
=We simply set the bar much higher for our kids. So, when those students don’t clear that high bar, they’re labeled as not proficient, but they would be labeled as proficient in lots of other states.
Yes, Illinois standards are more rigorous, and college admissions folks are aware of that. The post sort is missing the point - Why is Illinois lowering proficiency levels? So now we want to just regress down to other lower-performing states? Why not keep the more rigorous proficiency stanarards and make it a point of pride ?
Comment by Donnie Elgin Tuesday, May 20, 25 @ 11:40 am
“… phonics … .”
SMH
Comment by Anyone Remember Tuesday, May 20, 25 @ 11:43 am
Well City Zen, are you suggesting that Representative Wilhour thinks that a school district’s diversity ought to be taken into account when looking at their level of proficiency?
Comment by Juice Tuesday, May 20, 25 @ 11:44 am
===Why not keep the more rigorous proficiency stanarards===
One reason is that the far right loves to tee off on them and people are believing it.
Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, May 20, 25 @ 11:47 am
Illinois has been showing remarkable results. It’s an understood success story. Also don’t mock phonics. Schools are finding better results using phonics than with whole language. There is still interesting issues as to how to integrate the two but the research is fairly strong for more phonics focus.
Comment by ArchPundit Tuesday, May 20, 25 @ 12:05 pm
Look, if there’s one thing Blaine Wilhour is an acknowledged expert on and beneficiary of, it’s low standards.
Comment by ApplianceMart Tuesday, May 20, 25 @ 12:07 pm
==So now we want to just regress down to other lower-performing states? Why not keep the more rigorous proficiency standards and make it a point of pride ?==
Because almost nobody knows about this.
And even if we get all Illinoisans to know it, people in Florida, Texas, wherever, won’t know and will think our schools and children are less proficient than theirs.
Comment by jimbo Tuesday, May 20, 25 @ 12:14 pm
==One reason is that the far right loves to tee off on them and people are believing it.==
“We should accept lower standards in our schools because the right is critical of schools” seems like a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Free access to education is the greatest entitlement in our society and is more critical to our future than Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security combined. It would be nice if I could vote at the ballot box for a party that took this fact seriously. Unfortunately, that is not on the ballot.
Comment by Garfield Ridge Guy Tuesday, May 20, 25 @ 12:18 pm
Here is Blaine’s official GA resume…Biography: Farmer and business owner; born March 10, 1982; Graduate of St. Elmo High School; Illinois Army National Guard 1999-2005; Former member of the Fayette County Board; married, has three sons.
It does reveal the business or what he growed on the farm or whether he removes shoes and sox to count over 10. But folks in the St. Elmo netro area vote for him. Yikes
Comment by Annon'in Tuesday, May 20, 25 @ 12:20 pm
=Golly I wonder why rural America got emptied out of all the people who can read and think.=
Any data backing this up? My three kids from a very rural area in IL have a PhD, run a highly competitive and successful business and graduated from Georgetown Law School respectively.
We have running water and everything Larry . . . .
Your commentary is as ignorant as the underlying Wilhour observations.
Comment by Come Again? Tuesday, May 20, 25 @ 12:29 pm
===“We should accept lower standards in our schools because the right is critical of schools” seems like a self-fulfilling prophecy.===
Setting kids up to fail isn’t great either. Seeking fair comparisons with other states is not sacrificing quality education. Many kids are not meeting the existing standards so why not take a new look at the definition of proficient while continuing to encourage excellence?
Comment by Cubs in '16 Tuesday, May 20, 25 @ 12:30 pm
Wilhour is a tool. I use the term as a pejorative (I am sure he will need to look that up).
=Government education is in a crisis.=
Yes we are. Primarily because of people like whilhour. They want to replace science and math with the bible. They want civics and history taught that isn’t factual. They claim to be patriots but use words like patriot and freedom too cover up anti-American actions like denying people basic rights. But wrap yourself in the flag and freedom words.
=We should be rethinking our approach to curriculum and renewing our focus on reading and math—not watering down expectations.=
I guess he really cannot read. The ilga passed several laws on math and literacy in the last two years. The ISBE (this is one of the very few times I will ever tout the agency) has been leading a major overhaul of literacy and math. Keep up dude.
====Why not keep the more rigorous proficiency stanarards===
The argument is for equal standards so that we are equally compared. I don’t necessarily love the idea, as I posted recently, but it does have merit. Our standards require a 60 to pass while Mississippi and Florida require a 35 to pass basically
=When adjusted for student demographics.=
So you mean doing something like equalizing for poverty.
When comparing PISA results for the U.S. to other countries while accounting for poverty levels, the U.S. performs better in schools with lower poverty rates. Specifically, schools with poverty rates under 10% in the U.S. would rank first globally, while schools with poverty rates of 10-25% would rank fourth in the OECD. The U.S. also demonstrates that, even with higher poverty rates, the achievement gap between more and less disadvantaged students is smaller than in other similar countries.
Poverty, not race, is our enemy. It always has been. The last I read 7.7% of white Americans live in poverty while 17% of Black Americans live in poverty. As a percentage relative to their population, Blacks are more likely to live in poverty. But the achievement rate for white and black students at the same socio economic strata are the same. Attack poverty. All poverty. Things will improve, especially student achievement.
Comment by JS Mill Tuesday, May 20, 25 @ 12:42 pm
===Also don’t mock phonics.===
Phonics. SMH.
As a component, it has uses (link below). In my experience, Phonics proponents claim it does everything up to, and including, cleaning the classroom windows.
https://revealnews.org/podcast/reading-steubenville-ohio-sold-a-story/
Comment by Anyone Remember Tuesday, May 20, 25 @ 1:08 pm
=Phonics. SMH.=
Phonics are essential grades k-2. Period.
Comment by JS Mill Tuesday, May 20, 25 @ 1:26 pm
Any time you see the term “government schools” you can skip the rest of the article…
Comment by Friendly Bob Adams Tuesday, May 20, 25 @ 1:32 pm
— Phonics proponents claim it does everything up to, and including, cleaning the classroom windows.
LOL–I understand your frustration and know the weird proponents who also think the standard method of division is the only way to do things.
That said, we are seeing phonics as more important early one as JS points out. It’s one of those issues I’ve changed my mind on as I have seen the newer research. There’s still a role for whole language, but phonics is essential to young readers.
Comment by ArchPundit Tuesday, May 20, 25 @ 1:34 pm
====So now we want to just regress down to other lower-performing states?==
NAEP scores for Black students in many southern states (not just MS) exceed not just IL but the rest of the country as well. And they’re doing is with a much lower spend per pupil.
Again, we can either learn from what they’re doing or ignore it because red states bad. Until then, the minority kids around here will pay the price.
Comment by City Zen Tuesday, May 20, 25 @ 1:35 pm
BTW, NAEP is a likely victim of the DOGE cuts with $900 million cut in a first wave. This would be a tragedy to lose this and much more data on educational outcomes.
Comment by ArchPundit Tuesday, May 20, 25 @ 1:46 pm
I will give a single reason in my mind why the standard should change. If a standard is not truly realistic for most children to obtain then is it either a realistic or an appropriate standard? If for 4th graders…the standard is for what a 7th grader should read then is it developmentally appropriate? The standard should be to measure what is realistic for most students to achieve. This targets NAEP proficiency currently which is not where most I day will reach and is well above “grade level”.
Comment by Dtown Resident Tuesday, May 20, 25 @ 1:47 pm
JS Mill, thank you for educating us about education.
Comment by Norseman Tuesday, May 20, 25 @ 1:56 pm
===NAEP scores for Black students in many southern states (not just MS) exceed not just IL
There are small differences and not consistent across southern states. I’m looking at the data here https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/reading/states/groups/?grade=8
It’s not as clear as you are suggesting.
Comment by ArchPundit Tuesday, May 20, 25 @ 2:19 pm
It’s the state’s student report cards that reveal the disturbing statistics. If everything is hunky-dory, why are they so bad?
I can understand why people might not want to believe the bad news. but that won’t get us anywhere.
Comment by jim Tuesday, May 20, 25 @ 2:35 pm
====It’s the state’s student report cards that reveal the disturbing statistics.
Have you thought of taking a reading skills test?
Comment by ArchPundit Tuesday, May 20, 25 @ 2:36 pm
===There’s still a role for whole language, but phonics is essential to young readers.===
Reposting link. Replicate what they’re doing “outside Illinois” using Whole Language and children would learn to read.
https://revealnews.org/podcast/reading-steubenville-ohio-sold-a-story/
Comment by Anyone Remember Tuesday, May 20, 25 @ 2:39 pm
dismissing results of state report cards with an insult is just an effort to change the subject.
Comment by jim Tuesday, May 20, 25 @ 2:50 pm
==It’s the state’s student report cards that reveal the disturbing statistics. If everything is hunky-dory, why are they so bad?==
Did you read the post at all?
Comment by Demoralized Tuesday, May 20, 25 @ 2:52 pm
@jim
Read the post for crying out loud. It’s clear you have no reading comprehension.
Comment by Demoralized Tuesday, May 20, 25 @ 2:52 pm
–It’s the state’s student report cards that reveal the disturbing statistics.
No, it was a hope that you would read that Illinois is 4th in the nation for 4th graders and understand what is being compared isn’t the same thing across states. In fact, one might say the theme of the post was about how Wilhour and clearly others don’t bother to understand what they are talking about.
Comment by ArchPundit Tuesday, May 20, 25 @ 2:56 pm
=Replicate what they’re doing “outside Illinois” using Whole Language and children would learn to read.=
You cannot create proficient readers using whole language alone. Period. Phonics at the beginning levels is a must to establish the most basic reading skills. Whole language becomes effective once a basic vocabulary and understanding of how to read words is established. If you do not know how to pronounce words or understand their meaning, it is impossible then to develop reading.
It is not that whole language is useless or in effective, but it is not an effective foundational teaching tool.
Comment by JS Mill Tuesday, May 20, 25 @ 3:03 pm
“They are also doing so at a fraction of the money spent”
This is the name of the game for Republicans, slashing government. Deep cuts. Mississippi’s public employee salaries are substantially lower than other states. Their teacher pay is almost last. Kids can be helped without whacking teachers, that’s for sure.
Comment by Grandson of Man Tuesday, May 20, 25 @ 3:15 pm
-We simply set the bar much higher for our kids.-
Ive learned over the years high test scores dont correlate to actual ability to succeed in the world. (this isnt a political statement, just an observation)… must kids even the “smart” ones are dumb.
Comment by What a Burger Tuesday, May 20, 25 @ 3:21 pm
So his gubernatorial campaign slogan is “Illinois can be Mississippi”?
I think the IL-GOP and especially the “freedom” caucus are going to be in the wilderness for a loooooong time to come.
Comment by CA-HOON Tuesday, May 20, 25 @ 3:45 pm
= My three kids from a very rural area in IL have a PhD, run a highly competitive and successful business and graduated from Georgetown Law School respectively.=
Where do they live…now?
Comment by JS Mill Tuesday, May 20, 25 @ 3:56 pm