Did suburban schools make the grade? Find out when Illinois School Report Card comes out Monday
The Illinois School Report Card comes out Monday, giving parents, students and educators a look at academic progress statewide, as well as in their local schools and classrooms.
It provides a snapshot of how students performed on standardized tests and progress toward reversing pandemic-era learning losses.
The report card includes the results of the Illinois Assessment of Readiness, the state's standardized test in English language arts and mathematics administered each spring to students in third through eighth grades; science assessments 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 bench marks.
Proficiency data show the percentage of students meeting or exceeding state standards, while growth shows year-to-year progress toward meeting those standards.
Recovery from two years of learning disruption due to the COVID-19 pandemic continues across the state and the picture is expected to be much brighter this time around. Performance on assessments showed a steep decline from pre-pandemic levels in the 2020-21 school year, and modest gains in the 2021-22 school year.
Many schools had to scale up summer academic programs, tutoring, employ reading and math specialists, and hire additional teachers to help better meet students at their level. They also brought in more counselors and social workers to address social-emotional learning needs.
Overall the state saw student growth in the 54th percentile for English language arts and in the 52nd percentile for math, according to the 2022 Illinois School Report Card.
In 2019, student growth levels were in the 50th percentile for both subjects, and in 2021 they were in the 38th percentile.
Proficiency levels in math, science and language arts saw slight improvements in the 2021-22 school year, which also marked one of the highest graduation rates in recent years with 87% of high school students completing requirements, report card data show.
Parents will receive individualized report cards showing their student's assessment results. Districts also can see how each school performed and dig into how sub groups of students did on the assessments to help identify performance gaps.
The report card also gives students and parents an indication of overall school performance. The Illinois State Board of Education designates schools in one of four categories: 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%. Schools designated as targeted would otherwise fall in the commendable category based on overall performance but have one or more individual student groups performing in the bottom 5%. These designations allow the state to direct additional funding to schools that need help.
The 2023 report card data will be made public at 9 a.m. Monday on the state education board's website at isbe.net or illinoisreportcard.com.