Recently released test scores reveal that large gaps persist between different racial and income groups at Evanston Township High School, according to data from the Illinois School Report Card.
In the first year that schools have been required to track performance by income level and race, the study, released last week, shows that about 88 percent of white ETHS 11th-graders met or exceeded state math standards, compared with less than 33 percent of black 11th-graders.
Overall, about two-thirds of juniors met or exceeded reading standards — but of those whose families are eligible for free or reduced price lunches, less than 36 percent passed.
Margaret Lurie, vice president of the District 202 board, said she takes the score discrepancies very seriously. But board members would like to focus more on narrowing the gap than on dwelling on the new findings, she said.
“The board has been working on this for years, and frankly, the scores have improved in the past few years and we are encouraged by this progress,” Lurie said.
The gap has persisted at ETHS for years, although the school spends more than double the state average on each student. In the 2000-01 academic year, ETHS spent $16,284 per student. The state average was $7,926.
All Illinois students are required to take the Prairie State Achievement Examination in the 11th grade. This exam comprises tests in reading, math, writing, science and social science.
In 2002, 66.4 percent of ETHS students met or exceeded overall standards. This is an improvement from 2001, when 64.9 percent passed.
This improvement may have been seen as a sign of success in the past, but new federal standards require districts to track minority, low-income, limited-English-proficient and special education students separately.
The No Child Left Behind Act, signed by President Bush in January 2002, mandates that each subgroup within a school meets standards. The school will be considered academically troubled if even one subgroup fails to reach the goal in either reading or math.
Willie Miller, president of the District 202 board, said the purpose of the new law is for schools to make sure all students, not just the dominant group, are meeting standards. But ETHS had already made efforts to track the statistics before Bush’s mandate, he said.
“We have been looking for ways to improve the academic achievement of minorities for years,” he said. “We have been a leader in initiatives such as the Minority Student Achievement Network.”
The network is a national coalition of 15 suburban school districts designed to research and implement methods that ensure the academic success of minority students. It is housed at ETHS and provides mentoring and other academic support services to minority students.
In addition to minority students, limited-English-proficient students also scored poorly. None of the students in this group, which makes up about 4 percent of ETHS’s student population, met or exceeded the standards in reading. Less than 12 percent did so in math.
“The performance of limited-English students is a real sticking point with us,” Lurie said. “We have recently hired an outside consultant to analyze our bilingual program and are working to fix the problem.”
Schools with just one failing subgroup could lose federal funding if their scores do not improve by 2004, according to the new law. If ETHS was to lose the funding, it would face a 4 percent hole in its budget.
“Schools could lose funding, but ETHS won’t because we are showing progress, even if it is little,” Lurie said.
