Editorial: Let's not kid ourselves about what Illinois school report cards say
It is difficult to draw any sort of detailed conclusions from the latest release of the state school report cards. The results so far are so fragmented that it's hard to tell whether our schools are coming or going (and the conspiracy theorist impulses in us sometimes wonder if that's the point.)
But one thing is clear even from the early returns: There is much work to be done to meet both the promise of opportunity we make to our kids and beyond that, to meet the obligation we have to our society in an exceedingly complex and competitive world.
Occasionally, we hear from educators at community colleges and area universities. They often tell us that one of their most exhausting challenges is the remediation they must provide before students can get into meaningful studies.
Area manufacturers tell us they're concerned about the lack of preparedness, especially in communication skills, they find in young prospective employees.
Only last month, a university president told us that one of his biggest concerns is how ill-equipped high school graduates frequently are when they enroll, how much so many of them lack in the fundamentals of knowledge and learning.
We sometimes have a sense — based on the earnest concern of those we encounter across the educational spectrum, primary grades through high school and on to college — that we're making progress, that we're turning the corner on some of these challenges. But let's beware of the human nature to kid ourselves.
Let's see the early returns on the school report cards for what they are: Incomplete perhaps, but also disturbing and challenging.
Only about 25 percent of the state's eighth graders have passed algebra. The suburbs fare better than the state average — and yes, some suburban schools show vastly better results — but in half of our suburban schools, the percentage of eighth graders passing algebra is 37 percent or less.
Ben Boer, deputy director of Advance Illinois, an organization focused on improving the state's public education system, told staff writer Melissa Silverberg, “Don't freak out about it ... It's something to build on, not something to get upset about.”
Well, sorry, Mr. Boer. We beg strongly to differ.
Results like that — and like those that show less than half the state's students meet college-level standards for English, reading, math and science — are not simply something to take in stride and build on.
They must be a wake-up call.
They must be an alarm that incremental improvement is not enough. They must be a call to a revolutionary full-on campaign to raise student performance across the board in urgent and dramatic fashion.
Anything less fails the obligation we have to ourselves as a society.
And surely, anything less fails the promise we make to our kids.
How did your school do?
Our interactive database lets you see your school's scores and compare to others. See <a href="http://reportcards.dailyherald.com/">http://reportcards.dailyherald.com/</a>