The 2023 Illinois Report Card, released by the Illinois State Board of Education last month, showed glimpses of students beginning to bounce back in learning levels and test scores after pandemic disruption since 2020.
The annual report collects data from each public school district in Illinois to measure performance of students and schools. The scores are compared with state and local standards that help school districts determine their future goals.
The Evanston/Skokie Community School District 65 saw students continue to climb in state exam scores. Their performance on the Illinois Assessment of Readiness, which assesses how students in grades 3-8 are meeting Illinois Learning Standards in English Language Arts and Mathematics, showed improvement.
Since 2021, those who met and exceeded state standards for English rose from 34.6% to 44.9%. Meanwhile, students experienced similar growth in mathematics, with 41.1% meeting and exceeding standards –– compared to 37.4% in 2021.
Students also saw success in science. Recorded scores in the Illinois Science Assessment jumped to 62.4% from 53.8% since 2021.
The district’s combined test results exceeded state standards. Students displayed 44.6% proficiency on administered state exams in English Language Arts, compared to a state average proficiency of 34.6%.
Evanston Township High School District 202 mirrored this rebound in student test scores. With the Illinois Science Assessment, the percentage of students who met or exceeded state standards grew from 65.1% to 72%.
But, the four-year graduation rate of students in District 202 experienced a minor dip, with 92.8% of students graduating in 2023 as compared to 94.2% last year.
District 202 students’ SAT math section scores remain lower than pre-pandemic levels. In 2019, 49.7% of students met or exceeded the math section standard — this year, numbers have decreased to 44.1%.
“You’ll see that math is still an area of great, great need,” Pete Bavis, the District’s assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction, said during Monday night’s Board of Education meeting. “It’s rebounded a little bit, not near where it was pre-pandemic.”
There continues, however, to be a performance achievement gap by race in both districts.
“We can see which schools where we do have students who are low income or students experiencing homelessness or born into whatever race, who are succeeding, and to figure out what is happening in those districts so we can bring back some of that to ours,” Mirah Anti, a District 202 board member, said during the board meeting.
In District 65, white students scored 63.6% and 63.2% in the English and Mathematics sections of the IAR this year, respectively. Black students scored 18.5% and 11.7%, while Hispanic students recorded 28.4% and 22.1% in those categories.
Similarly, in District 202, SAT scores revealed discrepancies between white, Black and Hispanic students.
But, Superintendent Marcus Campbell and other members of the District 202 board said that they have plans to rectify these differences.
“I want to assure the board that the administration is and has a number of plans in place that we are vetting through the staff to address the very things we are talking about in a new way,” Campbell said.
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— D65 discusses bilingual curriculum at TWI night, middle school program remains under question
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