Libertyville District 70 PARCC scores offer new baseline

PARCC scores recently released for Libertyville School District 70 students offer a new baseline for a new assessment with a higher standard, school administrators said.

Officials also cautioned parents not to overreact to the low scores or read too much into the results of the first-time test.

"We do not believe that our students have changed in any way and we know that this does not reflect reduced standards or lower performances than in the past," said Erik Youngman, District 70's director of curriculum, instruction and assessment.

"It does represent a higher standard and a new baseline for our scores to be measured against."

District 70, accustomed to ISAT (Illinois Standards Achievement Test) scores in the high 80s and 90s through the years, now is dealing with PARCC (Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers) scores in the mid-to-upper 60s for English language arts, and in the low 60s for math.

But as State Superintendent Dr. Tony Smith emphasized when the statewide results were released, this is a completely different type of assessment than schools have ever had before and cannot be compared. The PARCC results simply set a baseline. The scores should not be considered lower as much as different.

"Comparing ISAT and PARCC is complex because of the different formats and expectations," Youngman noted. "However, staff members can still use the data to look for trends, strengths and areas where improvement is needed."

The PARCC assessments replaced ISAT last year, as students in third through eighth grade took PARCC tests earlier in 2015 in District 70.

"We are thankful to work in a community where our scores will be viewed in context to understand that our students continue to be among the best and brightest in Illinois," he added. "No score on any single assessment defines who we are or what we do as a district."

With ISATs, proficiency was measured on four levels with two levels considered proficient and two that were not. Under PARCC, there are five levels, with level three meaning a student is approaching standards and has demonstrated proficiency on some standards, but maybe not every standard at the time the test was administered.

Illinois considers a score of four or five to be meeting college and career readiness standards.

In reviewing the preliminary results, District 70 students performed at high levels when compared to state averages, demonstrating successful implementation of curricula.

In the area of English Language Arts, 66.4 percent of District 70 students met standards, compared to the state range of 31 percent to 38 percent. For math, 60.8 percent of District 70 students met standards, compared to the state range of 17 percent to 36 percent.

For District 70, 67.9 percent of the third- through fifth-graders were proficient in English language arts, while 64.8 percent of sixth- through eighth-graders were proficient for the total overall of 66.4 percent. The English section involved extended tasks such as essays.

For the math portion, District 70 scores showed third- through fifth-graders were 61.2 percent proficient in math, while sixth- through eighth-graders were 60.8 percent proficient in math for a total overall 60.8 percent.

The math section included longer, multistep math problems that measured students' abilities to analyze, think critically, solve problems and demonstrate their understanding of mathematical processes such as modeling and reasoning.

"The primary purpose of any assessment is to help parents and teaching staff better address student learning," Youngman noted. "Formal and informal assessments provide teachers, parents and students with a better understanding of individual academic performance and growth."

District 70 has a long-standing reputation of academic success. Four District 70 schools have been named National Blue Ribbon Award winners by the U.S. Department of Education, and two of those schools won the honor twice.

Recently, District 70 sent parents the results of PARCC and STAR (Renaissance Learning) assessments. In the letter, District 70 officials noted that this offered a "small snapshot of your child's performance." The letter also noted that educators "fully expect results to improve as teachers and students become more acquainted and familiar with the newer standards."