The 2023 Illinois Report Card released Monday by the Illinois State Board of Education showed a continuation of growth post-pandemic with increased proficiency rates, though still below pre-pandemic levels.
The highest graduation rate in 13 years, driven by Black and Hispanic students, was also reported.
The state report card, which is released annually to give an overview of information on Illinois schools, also showed record-high teacher retention as well as more students taking advanced coursework.
Results of individual schools can be found online at www.illinoisreportcard.com/.
While chronic absenteeism is still “alarmingly high,” according to the report card, data showed a “promising decrease.” Still, making a full recovery from the pandemic remains a constant goal, and State Superintendent of Education Tony Sanders said educators and families should be “proud of the remarkable progress” evident in this year’s report card.
“We are moving fast toward recovery, but we still have a significant distance to travel,” Sanders said in a news release about the report card. “Even once we exceed pre-pandemic achievement, we are not done until we have a system that graduates each and every student ready for success.”
The highest graduation rate in 13 years at 87.6% was achieved by the class of 2023, according to the report card, and was mostly driven by the increase in four-year graduation rates for Black and Hispanic students at 4.7% and 4%, respectively.
The rate of ninth graders in Illinois on track to graduate is also increasing and higher than even pre-pandemic levels at more than 87%, the report card showed.
Statewide, both English and math proficiency rates increased but are still less than what they were before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Proficiency rates can show the percentage of students who have hit the given target, according to the ISBE, but growth is the way to show “progress toward and even past the target.” On average, students grew more in the last school year than before the pandemic, according to the report card.
Black students had the greatest accelerated rate of growth in both English and math compared to the 2018-2019 school year, but their growth and proficiency rates overall are still behind other students.
In the 2022-2023 school year, teacher retention reached an “all-time high” exceeding 90%, according to the data. The retention rate for Black and Hispanic teachers increased the most by nearly 5% and 6%, respectively.
Even with high retention rates and more teachers recruited, “severe teacher shortages still exist,” according to the report card, especially in underfunded and disadvantaged schools and in the special education and bilingual education sectors. This was also found to be a prevalent issue in the state in a recent report from Advance Illinois on educator shortages.
There were more English language learners and Hispanic, Asian and multiracial students enrolled in the 2022-2023 school year than the school year before, suggesting more diversity in Illinois schools, according to the report card.
A spokesperson for Illinois’ largest school district, Chicago Public Schools, said CPS will host an event at 10 a.m. Tuesday at Dyett High School to discuss its high school data. CPS released elementary students’ test scores, showing partial gains — and disparities — in September. The spokesperson did not address whether Black and Hispanic students’ graduation rates grew in CPS as they did at the state level, on average.
Schools around the state have been assessing the data. But the report cards don’t reflect the goals and challenges unique to each district.
With a graduation rate improving for North Chicago Community High School to 87.7% for the class of 2023 from 84% from the year before, North Chicago District 187 Superintendent John Price said part of the focus is now putting more emphasis on the graduates’ future. The school maintained its “commendable” rating.
“We want to make sure 100% of our seniors have a strong postsecondary plan,” Price said. “We want them to enroll (in college), enlist (in the military) or earn in a career which will make a family sustainable.”
While all Illinois schools are dealing with the lingering impact of COVID-19, in Highland Park, Deerfield and Highwood, administrators are dealing with the impact on many students of the 2022 Fourth of July parade mass shooting and the current Israel-Hamas war.
Mike Lubelfeld, superintendent of North Shore District 112 serving preschool through eighth grade in Highland Park and Highwood, said in an email students are doing well despite the added stress.
“We are proud of the students, staff, administrators and parents for their continued resiliency in the face of trauma, tragedy, stress and recovery over the past few years in Highland Park and Highwood,” he said in the email.
Wayne Thomas Elementary School received an “exemplary” rating for the second year in a row, while all other schools were “commendable.” Lubelfeld said the designations are a “snapshot,” but do not cover all “data points” used when measuring student progress.
“We are engaged in continuous improvement all the time,” he said. “We have areas for growth and improvement in areas like attendance, academic proficiency and growth. We serve our communities because we are committed to growth and improvement each and every day.”
Michael Lach, assistant superintendent for curriculum, assessment and instruction for Township High School District 113, which operates Deerfield and Highland Park high schools, said in an email students earned the best possible “marks for the core academic measures — mathematics, English and science” — despite outside issues.
Deerfield repeated its “exemplary” rating, while Highland Park remained “commendable.” Lach said supports are now added for student groups, such as multilingual students, who enter the district performing lower than others.
“We’ve put new systems and processes in place like MTSS (multitiered system of supports) and deleveling and expect those efforts to bear fruit over time,” Lach said in the email.
In central Illinois, 95% of ninth-grade students in the Williamsfield Community Unit School District were on track to graduate in the 2022-23 school year, according to the Illinois Report Card.
Superintendent Tim Farquer credits small student-to-teacher ratios in the rural district, with helping Williamsfield’s approximately 300 students catch back up on some of the learning loss resulting from the pandemic.
“With our size and resources, we’re able to, I think, find those gaps quicker. Logically, we’d like to think we’d be able to close those gaps sooner,” he said, earlier this month. But, like many districts, Williamsfield hasn’t seen test scores fully rebound, Farquer added. “We’re not back to where we were.”
More data and information about the state report card can be found online at isbe.net/Pages/Illinois-State-Report-Card-Data.aspx.
