The Illinois State Board of Education (IBSE) released the annual Illinois Report Card on Oct. 30. The Illinois Report Card provides a snapshot of academic achievement, student and teacher information, and financial data at the state, district, and school levels. USD116 has prioritized its district and school improvement goals in teaching and learning, focusing on reading/language arts, mathematics, and chronic absenteeism.
The District started the 2024-25 school year focusing on chronic absenteeism with specific initiatives focused on student attendance. Our 24-25 report card data reflects a decrease of 5% in our chronic absenteeism numbers (from 49% to 44%). District staff have spent considerable time and effort since the start of this school year continuing to invest in our “Attendance Matters Campaign” and have already seen results. This year, our daily average attendance for September was 91%, and our chronic absenteeism improved by 4.1% from September 2023 to September 2024.
The USD school community celebrates with Urbana High School as we recognize improvement in its 4-year graduation rate increase to 83% (from 80%). The data released today continues to show increases in the number of students participating in advanced coursework and Career and Technical Education (CTE). These increases will continue to impact our graduation rate in the future, as our graduation rate for CTE concentrators has increased this year to 94.4% (from 90.8%).
“Over the past year, UHS has focused on several school-wide initiatives such as AVID systems, high-yield instructional strategies, and social-emotional learning,” said UHS Principal, Jesse Guzman. “The implementation of Academy 9 and other programs has re-engaged students in learning and overall school engagement.”
Proficiency and Student Growth Data
Proficiency shows whether or not students have mastered a standard. In contrast, student growth recognizes progress toward and beyond the standard, no matter where the student started. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, Illinois’ benchmark for proficiency is higher than that of 45 other states. While our overall proficiency rates in both English Language Arts (ELA) and Math remain below pre-pandemic levels, it should be noted that Illinois has some of the most rigorous proficiency standards in the nation.
The 2024 Illinois Assessment of Readiness (IAR) data shows that since 2022, the percentage of students proficient in ELA has continued to increase in the majority of our students, with their data trending upward. The average proficiency rate since 2022 shows an increase from 8% to 12.4% in ELA. Also, all schools have demonstrated an increase in their English Learner Progress to Proficiency Rate (ELPtP). Elementary buildings are all in the “low-risk” category, as their scores are above 70. This score is calculated for students based on the number of years enrolled in school.
Student Growth Percentile (SGP) provides a way to see how much a student has grown academically, regardless of their starting point. It can help identify students who need extra support and those who are excelling. SGP is like a progress report comparing students’ growth to their peers. It helps us understand how well a student is doing and where they might need more help or acceleration. Overall, the Growth Percentile for ELA and Math shows a generally positive trend over the years, with the 2024-2025 outcomes indicating continued improvement. In 2024-2025, the overall cohort growth percentile is projected to reach 41.4%, a slight increase from the 2023-2024 level of 40.5%, indicating fewer students are falling below the performance standards. Overall, the slight improvement in student growth highlights the ongoing efforts to improve educational outcomes in ELA and Math, with a focus on increasing the number of students meeting or exceeding performance standards and reducing the proportion of those not meeting the benchmarks.
Annual Summative Designations
One component of the School Report Card is the annual summative designation – a federally required descriptor of how well our schools meet all students’ needs. The District’s commitment to improving student outcomes is reflected in new adoptions of Math curricula in 2023 and an evidence-based English Language Arts curriculum grounded in the Science of Reading adoption implemented in August 2024, with a new core instructional support model in grades K-8. In addition, USD116 is committed to supporting new teachers and long-term substitutes through a mentoring program through our teacher vacancy grant funding and continued professional learning.
We recognize and applaud Urbana High School for its continued Commendable status. While students’ proficiency rates may be lower, they are growing over time through the many successful programs offered and implementing systems to support our students’ academic growth at Urbana High School.
While our school improvement efforts did not produce all the results we hoped for in the prescribed timeline, we have much to be proud of. One of our elementary schools, Leal Elementary, received the designation of Targeted, which means that while the school overall is commendable, one or more student groups are performing at or below the lowest-performing 5% of all schools.
Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary and Thomas Paine Elementary received new designations of Comprehensive, and Urbana Middle School continues its designation cycle as Comprehensive.
Dr. Preston L. Williams Jr. Elementary has been designated Intensive and remains Intensive. All designated schools will receive technical assistance and funding for improvement planning.
Due to the redistricting and reorganization of our Spanish and French Dual Language Programs to create the new Yankee Ridge Multilingual School, the state has recognized the program as a new school entity; therefore, they have no designation and limited school report card data.
“While we are happy to celebrate our successes this year, we know there is room for us to grow, and we are committed to engaging in continuous school improvement,” said Superintendent Dr. Ivory-Tatum. “One of the most notable improvements among the designated schools was the amount of Math growth that almost all K-8 schools demonstrated after adopting the first year of our core math curriculum. We have increased rigor to accelerate student growth. We will continue using our grants and funding to provide more professional learning opportunities and resources to expand our ability to take a more holistic and targeted approach to improving our core instruction at all levels, especially at the early elementary levels in K-2 and 3-5.”
View the complete Illinois Report Card data at www.illinoisreportcard.com.