Archdiocese of Chicago students stay on track with learning, even during pandemic

Students at Archdiocese of Chicago Catholic schools have defied the national trend reflecting pandemic-related stagnation and decline in academics, according to new data released by the archdiocese. Not only did archdiocese students meet academic expectations by staying on track with their learning, but an overwhelming number of them exceeded learning goals set out by the system's annual i-Ready assessment exam.

According to a national study released last month by McKinsey & Co., schools with predominantly white students who took the exam lost an average of one to three months of learning over the spring of 2020 closures, and schools with predominantly Black and Latino students fell further behind, losing three to five months. The study was based on analysis of data from the Curriculum Associates i-Ready platform and found that students in their sample learned only 67 percent of the math and 87 percent of the reading that grade-level peers would typically have learned by the fall of 2020.

In contrast based on the same Curriculum Associates i-Ready platform data, 7,382 students in Chicago archdiocesan schools, who took the i-Ready exam in the same fall-to-fall period, performed on average at 105 percent of the expected learning growth in math and at 130 percent of the expected learning growth in reading. The positive results were particularly strong among students from higher poverty backgrounds.

"These data confirm the success of the quick pivot to virtual learning our schools made last spring," Dr. Jim Rigg, superintendent of Archdiocese of Chicago Catholic schools, stated in a news release. "The ingenuity, dedication and hard work of our educators ensured that students wouldn't miss a day of class and that we could maintain the quality of our Catholic education."

Candice Usauskas, principal of St. Mary Star of the Sea School, located in a ZIP code that has been one of the hardest hit by the virus, said a key to her students' success was the seamless transition to remote learning when the virus forced buildings to close last spring.

"We had been monitoring the course of the pandemic and were nimble in shifting our focus to remote learning from the very beginning," Usauskas said. "I'm really proud of the hard work of our teachers and our kids, but also of our parents who made sure students had the right learning environment in their homes."

Here is a sampling of archdiocesan schools and how they performed on i-Ready in the fall of 2020:

• St. Celestine School, Elmwood Park, has demographics of 58% White, 34% Hispanic and 8% other, with 17% of students in testing sample identified as English Language Learners, with 0-25% receiving free or reduced lunch. In math, 181 students were tested and achieved 99% of typical growth; in reading, 183 were tested and achieved 108% of typical growth.

• St. Christopher School, Midlothian, has demographics of 36% Hispanic, 27% Black and 25% White, with 50-75% receiving free or reduced lunch. In math, 381 students were tested and achieved 112% of typical growth; in reading, 370 were tested and achieved 125% of typical growth.

• St. Daniel the Prophet School, Chicago, has demographics of 56% White, 42% Hispanic and 2% other, with 0-25% receiving free or reduced lunch. In math, 85 students were tested and achieved 117% of typical growth; in reading, 84 were tested and achieved 131% of typical growth.

• St. Mary Star of the Sea School, Chicago, has demographics of 95% Hispanic, 3% White and 2% Black, with 50-75% receiving free or reduced lunch. In math, 100 students were tested and achieved 118% of typical growth; in reading, 104 were tested and achieved 109% of typical growth.