The 2025 Illinois Report Card shows Evanston Township High School had comparatively high academic proficiency, graduation and teacher pay rates, but still exhibited racial and income disparities in academic performance during the 2024-25 academic year.
The report card, which was released by the Illinois State Board of Education at the end of October, uses data from every public school district in Illinois to measure student and school performance.
ETHS’ proficiency levels in math, science and English Language Arts were all significantly higher than state averages. Student performance in certain areas dropped, including a decrease in proficiency from about 66% to just below 64% in science. The drop continues a three-year trend of decreasing proficiency in science.
Despite having above-average student performance compared to the state averages for all subjects, white and Asian students were reported to have higher proficiency rates than Black and Hispanic students in all three subject areas. Additionally, low-income students performed below the school average in math, science and ELA.
ETHS students’ math performance was the lowest of the three subject areas, with proficiency at about 55%. About 17% of Black students and about 30% of Hispanic students were proficient in math. In comparison, about 79% of white students were deemed proficient, as well as almost 74% of Asian students.
ETHS continues to report a high graduation rate. This year, about 94% of the senior class graduated, well above the state average of 89%. Preliminary data shows that almost 80% of the Class of 2023 enrolled in postsecondary education within 16 months of graduation.
Still, there were notable disparities in graduation rates. 97% of white students in the Class of 2025 graduated, compared to about 93% of Black students and about 89% of Hispanic students. Wealth-based disparities, on the other hand, were minimal, with almost 94% of low-income seniors graduating.
Student mobility, defined as the percentage of students who transferred in or out of a given school, hovered right over 11%, compared to the state average of about 7%. The report noted that mobility has adverse effects on all students in a school community. Mobility rates were significantly higher for Black students, with a rate of just over 20%, and Hispanic students, whose rate was about 18%. This discrepancy was particularly stark when compared to white students’ roughly 3% mobility rate — the only rate below the state average.
The rate of chronic absenteeism, defined as the percentage of students missing at least 10% of school days, was about 25% this year, matching the state average. Similarly, average daily attendance equaled the state average of 91.8%.
According to the report, ETHS’ 3-year teacher retention rate was about 93%, compared to the state average of about 89%. The average teacher salary at ETHS was $116,646, almost 1.5 times the state average of $78,495. This was the first time in seven years that the school’s average teacher salary decreased. Last year, the school’s average salary was $116,697.
Teachers at ETHS were, on average, more likely to hold a master’s degree than other teachers in the state. About 73% of ETHS teachers had a master’s degree, while about 57% of statewide teachers did.
The ISBE report deemed ETHS “commendable” overall — the same status it received for the 2023-24 school year — one level below the state’s highest designation.
Email: [email protected]
Related Stories:
— ETHS pursues $48 million expansion, renovates arts and career-technical education spaces
— District 202 achievement gaps, student mastery higher than state averages, report shows
— ETHS teachers remain committed to ‘honest’ science, history lessons amid federal funding threats
