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The
Illinois State Board of Education held a news conference Tuesday
to discuss what to look for in this year’s report.
Student academic growth slowed significantly in 2021, but has
rebounded and even slightly outperformed pre-pandemic levels,
the board said.
“Students on average in 2022 grew at faster rates than their
comparable peers in 2019, and that is really great news,” ISBE
Director of Accountability Rae Clementz said. “It speaks to the
efforts of teachers and school leaders.”
On the 2021 Illinois Report Card, students showed dramatic
declines in academic achievement and higher rates of chronic
absenteeism with remote and hybrid learning plans throughout the
state.
ISBE Director of Research Melissa DeGanji said recovering from
educational setbacks historically can take a considerable amount
of time.
“Catastrophic events, whether that's a hurricane or a global
pandemic, you can see far reaching impacts of those between one
to two decades,” said DeGanji.
For the first time since 2019, Illinois schools will be rated
once again, as required by federal law, using four possible
designations. They are Exemplary, which recognizes the highest
performing 10% of schools; Comprehensive, which identifies the
lowest performing 5% of schools; Targeted, which identifies
schools whose overall performance is above the lowest performing
5% of schools, but have one or more student groups whose
performance is on par with the lowest performing 5% of schools;
and Commendable, the designation for all other schools.
The designations are determined by multiple measures of
performance, but school officials said the primary indicator,
which accounts for half of the designation, is student growth.
The 2022 Illinois Schools Report Card will be released Oct. 27.
Kevin Bessler reports on statewide issues in
Illinois for the Center Square. He has over 30 years of
experience in radio news reporting throughout the Midwest.
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