New Illinois School Report Cards shift emphasis to student growth
New ratings will show up on the Illinois School Report Cards set to be released Oct. 31 as the State Board of Education rolls out a new system for reporting school performance.
The state will assign each public school a rating that sums up its performance on multiple indicators. Rather than focus on the percentage of students meeting or exceeding expectations, the rating formula for K-8 schools will now emphasizes students’ academic gains in relation to those of other students across the state.
Student growth counts for one-half of a school’s rating at the elementary and middle school level.
Rae Clementz, director of assessment and accountability for the State Board of Education, said educators and school leaders have been asking for an accountability system that speaks to the effectiveness of instruction.
“They want a system that measures the impact of a school on student learning no matter where a student starts,” Clementz said during a conference call with reporters Oct. 17.
The school report cards will continue to report the percentages of students meeting or exceeding expectations, or who fall into other categories.
“We still have standards that we want all students to meet, so proficiency is still included in the system. But growth, at least at the K-8 level, makes up the biggest slice of the pie,” Clementz said. “Growth is important because it does not correlate to income or other types of demographic factors. Every student can and does grow.”
For the 2018 report cards, the State Board is using the framework of the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), which replaced the No Child Left Behind law when Congress in late 2015 reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Every Student Succeeds establishes a 15-year timeline for achieving four academic goals.
By 2032, at least 90 percent of third grade students should be reading at or above grade level and 90 percent or more of fifth grade students should meet or exceed expectations in math. At the high school level, 90 percent or more of ninth grade students should be on track to graduate with their cohort, and 90 percent or more of students should graduate from high school ready for college and career.
Similar to No Child Left Behind, the new accountability system tracks the progress of specific groups that make up the school’s enrollment, including white, black, Hispanic and Asian students, along with low-income students; English language learners and students with disabilities.
One goal of Every Student Succeeds is that all English learners achieve proficiency in English within five years of their identification as English learners. In addition to monitoring those on their way to English proficiency, the accountability system will track students who’ve transitioned out of bilingual education as a separate student group.
Under the new Illinois reporting system, each school will land in one of four categories ranging from exemplary to low performing based on a list of weighted measures. To receive an exemplary rating, a school must be in the top 10 percent of schools in the state, which means the top 67 schools. In addition, no student group at the school can perform below the level of the 33 schools that make up the lowest five percent of schools in the state.
A school that’s not among the top 10 percent, but has no bottom-performing student groups, will receive a commendable designation.
Schools with one or more low-performing student groups will be deemed underperforming, unless they fall within the lowestperforming category reserved for the lowest five
“They want a system that measures the impact of a school on student learning no matter where a student starts.” — Rae Clementz, director of assessment and accountability for the State Board of Education
percent of schools.
For now, one-half of each high school’s rating will be based on the school’s graduation rate.
Clementz said the addition of the PSAT exam to the high school testing program next spring will allow the state to use student growth as a factor in the future. Ninth grade students will take the PSAT 8/9 exam and 10th grade pupils will take the PSAT 10. The PSAT is aligned with the SAT exam that Illinois gives to high school juniors.
At both the elementary and high school level, proficiency in English Language Arts and math each will count for 10 percent of a school’s rating. The progress of English learners will count for another five percent.
Starting in the 2019-20 year, student performance on a state science test will be a factor and count for five percent of a school’s rating. Various measures of school quality and student success, including the results of a school climate survey, will collectively account for 25 percent of each school’s designation in the future.
Chronic absenteeism will account for 20 of the school’s rating at the elementary level this year, as the state focuses a spotlight on students who could become lost in statistics showing an overall high rate of attendance, Clementz said.
Chronic absenteeism is defined as missing 10 percent or more of all school days during the prior academic due to both excused and unexcused absences.
“The new report card contains many new features that are designed to tell a more complete story about each school district and each school in our communities,” said Ralph Grimm, chief education officer for the State Board of Education.
He said the report cards provide information about which schools and students need more resources and support to ensure educational success.