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Even after state officials inflated the number of students
meeting proficiency levels by lowering reading and math
benchmarks, new Illinois Report Card data shows struggling
students still posted achievement gaps as low as 22 points below
state average, including Black and Hispanic students scoring as
low as 28 points below standards.
“Some of these schools that our students go to are
underperforming because they are underutilized,” Ford,
D-Chicago, told The Center Square.
Overall, data shows more than half of CPS students are reading
below grade level and roughly 75% are falling short of the mark
in math. As for 3rd through 8th-graders, only 35% read at grade
level and just 19% are proficient in math.
At the high school level, just 32% of low-income 11th graders
read at grade level and 17% proved to be competent in math.
Noting that wide discrepancies also exist among Black and
Hispanic 3rd through 8th graders, Ford pointed out that similar
achievement gaps between minorities and other students across
the city are also prevalent at the high school level, with Black
11th graders testing 26% below the state average in reading and
28% below in math and Hispanics 12 and 17 points below
standards.
“We need to move from what we call a goal to educate our
students to a mandate to educate our students,” he said. “That's
where we're struggling. It's only a goal in Illinois that we
meet our students' needs. Until we make it a priority and a
mandate, everyone in this state will suffer.”
The Illinois Report Card was first made public in late October.
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