The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) today released the annual Illinois Report Card revealing Urbana School District #116’s (USD116) demonstrated growth in areas of academic performance for several schools: four who achieved the designation of Commendable, two schools that were previously Lowest Performing and are now Underperforming and another that was newly designated as Underperforming.
ISBE’s annual Illinois Report Card provides a detailed look at each school’s progress on academic, student success, school culture, climate and financial investments. USD116 has prioritized its goals of culturally relevant academic support targeted at specific student groups (i.e. children with disabilities, low income students, African American students, and English Learners) and improving overall school culture and climate. This is year two for implementation of IL-EMPOWER, Illinois’ multi-measures accountability system developed through the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).
We recognize the accomplishments of our Commendable schools: Urbana High School, M. L. King Jr., Leal and Yankee Ridge. Our teachers, administrators and staff will continue to concentrate on areas of improvement while also setting high expectations for student growth and learning.
The District’s commitment to improving student outcomes are evidenced by positive changes in summative designation status for multiple schools. The summative designations describe how well an individual school is meeting the needs of all its students based on multiple indicators. Yankee Ridge Elementary’s designation improved as they achieved Commendable status. Yankee Ridge’s African American student group was previously rated Underperforming but has since shown improvements in their literacy outcomes, which supports their new Commendable designation. Dr. Williams and Wiley Elementary School’s both have showed improvement in their designation by moving from the Lowest Performing to Underperforming status. Both schools have demonstrated improvements in their benchmark assessment data due to a more intentional focus on Balanced Literacy approaches and small group instruction. At Dr. Williams, supports were put in place for targeted intervention groups for Dual Language and students who are English Learners as well as an emphasis on expanding access to Spanish literacy materials.
Although Urbana Middle School retained the same designation of Underperforming, there were academic improvements that will help move the school closer to Commendable status in the future. As they enter year two of a new math curriculum adoption, the school continues to focus on interventions, improve fidelity, monitor scope and sequence, and strengthen professional development in the areas of math and English language arts.
All IL-EMPOWER schools participated in professional development on Restorative Practices and built capacity in systematic, sequential literacy instruction. Staff and administrators were dedicated to fostering improved culture and climate and increasing positive relationships with their students and families.
Thomas Paine Elementary has been newly designated as Underperforming for the student group areas of low income and African American. They will receive funding through Title I of ESSA. Thomas
Paine will receive funding this year to support planning for three years of school improvement efforts. The remainder of the 2019-2020 school year will serve as a vital planning period for Thomas Paine.
Though gains have been made across The District this year, USD116 looks to make improvements in the areas of new teacher mentoring through a comprehensive new teacher induction program, high quality professional development for teachers and support staff in the areas of Restorative Practices, social emotional learning, math curriculum and English language arts. The District is dedicated to utilizing IL-EMPOWER funding to provide student resources beyond the school day and extended learning opportunities at all designation school sites. There has also been a concentrated effort on the part of The District in the last year to increase the number of social emotional support staff specifically at our secondary buildings. Faculty and staff have shown tremendous commitment to improving culture and climate.
“We are encouraged by USD116’s staff and administrator’s continual efforts to support academic and social emotional growth for all and will intentionally invest in resources that will help every student reach their personal greatness,” said Superintendent Ivory-Tatum. “Our District is strongest when we all strive for academic excellence. We believe every student can reach their highest potential if we all work together.”