Public Information from the IL State Board of Education

“Nothing matters more than the ownership of a vision.”
– Bill Hybels

This post is a press release from the Illinois State Board of  Education regarding the release today of all school district report cards in the state. From time to time I use the blog to share public information as another avenue to inform the public on the macro/grand scale of public education in Illinois.

 

IL

For Immediate Release
Oct. 30, 2015

2015 Report Card released with new features to better reflect school climate and student progress

Changes underway to report the first Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) scores

SPRINGFIELD — The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) continues to enhance its Report Card with new metrics and features available this year that show a more complete picture of school climate and students’ progress toward college and career readiness.For more information on the 2015 Report Card and its new metrics and data, visit the ISBE Hot Topics page at www.isbe.net/hot-topics.htm.

“Illinois’ award-winning Report Card is a model for other states to provide in-depth, meaningful data about school learning environments in an easily accessible format,” said State Superintendent of Education Tony Smith, Ph.D. “It’s a valuable tool that helps parents and community members understand and evaluate a school’s landscape, climate, academic performance, strengths, and opportunities.”

The 2015 Report Card at www.illinoisreportcard.com currently includes information about postsecondary enrollment, freshmen on track, principal turnover, teacher retention, the Illinois 5Essentials Survey, and district-level financial information.

imagesReport Card data involving student academic growth and achievement on the state assessment is not yet available as Illinois awaits district-, school-, and student-level results for the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) test. The Report Card will be updated with district- and school-level data later this school year.

The 2015 Report Card is also available to the media at ftp://ftp.isbe.net/schoolreportcard.

In addition to enhanced returning features, this year’s Report Card includes the following new metrics and features:

  • Percentage of Eighth Graders Passing Algebra I: This metric reports the percentage of students who have passed Algebra I by eighth grade. Courses taken during any summer session are NOT included in this calculation. A student enrolled at any Illinois public school on or before Sept. 30, 2014, and on or after May 1, 2015, is assigned to the last district enrolled for the school year. This metric, as required by Public Act 097-0671, provides a more detailed look at students’ math comprehension before they enter high school.
  • Enhanced Educator Data: This feature reflects data gathered from ISBE’s Employment Information System (EIS). Several educator characteristics are now viewable on the Report Card in new displays, including teacher demographics, teacher retention, pupil-teacher ratio, teacher education, teacher salary, principal turnover, pupil-administrator ratio, administrator salary, and pupil-certified staff ratio. This is the first year the Report Card will offer completed educator data from the 2013 and 2014 school years. This metric was implemented in response to Section 10-17 a (2) (E) of the School Code (105 ILCS 5/10-17a).
  • Health and Wellness Metric (Coming Soon): This metric, which will be updated on the Report Card site later this year, will report the average number of days that each student attends physical education class per week. The metric is in response to theEnhance Physical Education Task Force, which recommends enhancing physical education to increase student wellness, and Section 10-17a (2) (B) of the School Code (105 ILCS 5/10-17a).

ISBE staff is also modifying how the Report Card will display results from the first administration of the new PARCC test. Students in grades 3-8 and some high school students took the PARCC test beginning in March 2015. In September, the state released preliminary statewide results for the PARCC test. Once roithe district- and school-level results are available, parents and community members will be able to see how many students performed at each of the five performance levels in English language arts and math by grade level in elementary school and by course level in high school.

The 2015 PARCC scores are taking additional time to produce as Illinois educators and their colleagues review students’ work to determine the performance level threshold scores. The new PARCC test replaced the Illinois Standards Achievement Test (ISAT) and the Prairie State Achievement Exam (PSAE). As such, the PARCC results will be represented on the Report Card separately from the previous ISAT and PSAE data. The 2015 PARCC scores provide a new baseline for measuring student progress moving forward. Therefore, the PARCC test results cannot be compared to ISAT and PSAE scores.

Additional information about how to access and interpret PARCC scores on the Report Card will be released later this year. More details about what to expect from the PARCC results are available on ISBE’s new PARCC Place website and posted on the Hot Topics page atwww.isbe.net/hot-topics.htm?col2=open#CollapsiblePanel2.

ISBE has produced the School Report Card since 1986 for every public school and district in Illinois. In October 2013, ISBE unveiled a new, redesigned Report Card that provides a more complete picture of student learning and school climate in a user-friendly format. In 2014, the Education Commission of the States (ECS) identified Illinois as having the best report card out of all 50 states and the District of Columbia for its accessible accountability reports.