What you need to know about school report cards coming out Monday

Parents and educators will get a glimpse into how their schools and students are performing statewide when the 2023 Illinois School Report Card data comes out Monday.

The annual school report card provides a snapshot of how students are progressing on a wide range of educational goals. School quality is measured through multiple indicators of student success - standardized tests, alternative assessments, academic growth, English language and mathematics proficiency, science scores, fine arts participation, success on college entrance tests and graduation rates, as well as factors such as chronic absenteeism and school climate surveys.

Here are five things you need to know about the report card:

• Standardized tests: The Illinois Assessment of Readiness in English language arts and math administered each spring to students in third through eighth grades; the Illinois Science Assessment taken by fifth-, eighth- and 11th-graders; and the SAT college entrance exam taken by 11th-graders. The tests measure student growth and proficiency in meeting state standards.

• Student growth percentile: It shows year-to-year progress toward meeting learning standards, that is how much a student grew compared to academic peers who started at the same level. Find out more at isbe.net/Documents/Student-Growth.pdf.

• Proficiency: It breaks down the percentage of students meeting or exceeding state standards, as well as the percentage of students approaching proficiency bench marks.

• Summative designations: The Illinois State Board of Education categorizes schools in one of four groups: exemplary, commendable, comprehensive and targeted. Schools in the exemplary category are among the highest performing top 10%, while schools in the targeted category are among the lowest performing 5%. Find out more at isbe.net/Documents/Enhanced-Summative-Designation.pdf.

• Equity Journey Continuum: An informational tool to help districts view their data through the lens of equity. It identifies gaps in student achievement, opportunities, and supports making the data more useful for districts to improve outcomes for students.

Parents will receive individualized report cards showing their student's assessment results, while districts can see how each school and how sub groups of students performed on the assessments to help identify gaps.

The 2023 Illinois Report Card goes live 9 a.m. Monday at illinoisreportcard.com.