School Report Cards 2007

School Report Cards provide information about academic performance and characteristics of students, instructional resources, and finances.  Prepared by the Illinois State Board of Education, Report Cards contain school, district, and state data.  Typically, School Report Cards are released by the State in October, and according to Illinois School Code, must be made available by a school district to the public by October 31 each year.  No information in the School Report Card can be modified, and the only supplementary information that can be added is a statement of school improvement, which is placed on the back page of the Report Card.

There is reason to believe that the State Reading Results for 2007, contained in the School Report Card, may be inaccurate.

Scores of large-population assessments, while varying from year-to-year, tend to move in very specific ways.  While there may be larger variances within small groups, trends among large groups tend to be predictable and major increases or decreases in large-scale populations are very unlikely.  The 2007 State Mathematics results follow this typical statistical pattern.  Districtwide, mathematics scores of large groups (White, Asian, and the All subgroups) vary slightly.  The smaller groups in the District may vary more significantly. 

However, the 2007 Reading results show an unexpected pattern.  District subgroups show consistent drops of 4%-5%.  Even the very large State subgroups display a similar larger-than-typical subgroup percentage drop.  Additionally, these results are not consistent with student performance on the ACT Reading test, which contributes 50% of the Prairie State Achievement Examination (PSAE) score.  Unfortunately, outside of these indicators there is no additional data provided to schools that would enable an in-depth review of the validity of the 2007 scores at the school or District level.

As a result of the unusual score trend, District 211 Superintendent Roger Thornton has contacted State Superintendent Christopher Koch and asked his attention to the situation.  District 211 is awaiting an analysis from his agency, and will continue to work through ISBE to resolve the score discrepancy.

To view the individual report cards
go to the School Report Cards links page