District 118 sees report card gains
The state-issued report card shows Wauconda Unit School District 118 scored higher than the state average in many areas, including test scores, attendance and graduation rates.
The district, consisting of two elementary schools, two middle schools and one high school, beat the state average on the Illinois Standards Achievement Test (ISAT) and the Prairie State Achievement Examination (PSAE), the ISAT grades 3rd through 8th grade students on reading and math and 4th and 7th grade students on science, while the PSAE tests 11th grade students on reading, math and science.
“For the first time, our high school students scored in all three categories at 60 percent or above, meeting or exceeding expectations while the state remains flat in the 50s,” Superintendent Dan Coles said at a school board meeting Thursday.
However, Robert Crown Elementary School and Wauconda High School did not meet the adequate yearly progress standards set by the No Child Left Behind Act, because not all demographic groups attained 77.5 percent of students meeting or exceeding expectations on reading and math tests.
Hispanic students and economically disadvantaged students fell below the marker at both schools. Only 28 percent of Hispanic students and 37.5 percent of economically disadvantaged students met or exceeded expectations on reading tests at the high school.
The district's three other schools met the adequate yearly progress standards.
Average ACT scores rose to a new high of 21.5, a full point ahead of the state average. The graduation rate at Wauconda High School was 91.7 percent, compared to the state average of 87.8 percent. The average attendance across all district schools was 94.6 percent, while the state average was 93.9 percent.
What it all means, Coles and other officials said, is the district is heading in the right direction.
“Based on our enrollment and the state's average cost per pupil, we're doing this for about $3 million less than the average school our size,” Board President John Armstrong said.
The district's cost per pupil is $10,460 and the state average cost per pupil is $11,197.
“Which means we spend less per pupil than the average school yet our achievements are drastically outpacing the state average,” Coles said.
Copies of the district's report card, and individual report cards for each of the district's schools will be available for pickup in the district office or for download on the district website, www.cusd118.lake.k12.il.us