100 North First Street • Springfield, Illinois 62777-0001
www.isbe.net
James T. Meeks Tony Smith, Ph.D.
Chairman State Superintendent of Education
FAQs
2015 ILLINOIS REPORT CARD
October 2015, ISBE Division of Public Information
1. Q: What is the School Report Card?
A: The Illinois State Board of Education annually releases a School Report Card that shows how each school, district, and the state is performing on a wide range of educational goals. The Report Card was redesigned in 2013 to be more user-friendly and to provide data on a wider range of indicators than our previous version. The Report Card now offers a more complete picture of student and school performance in order to inform and empower families and communities as they support their local schools.
2. Q: Where do I find the State, District, or School Report Card?
A: Go to illinoisreportcard.com. The online Report Card provides an interactive tool for exploring school performance data. The tool includes simple, intuitive displays as well as detailed data views and descriptions for each school and district. It continues to offer information on student demographics and performance. Users can search by school or district name. Also found on the online Report Card is an At-a-Glance Report for each school that offers a two-page snapshot that can be downloaded, printed, and distributed to families and community members.
3. Q: What School Report Card information is new in 2015?
A: The School Report Card expands on previous reporting advancements (including student academic growth and information on academic, athletic, extracurricular, and after-school programs and courses) to now include information and metrics including:
· 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 will be 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: 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 the Enhance 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).
Returning features have been enhanced to better chart academic progress. Average class size is now available with corresponding charts and district- and statewide comparisons. Users can now view graduation rates by sub-groups in order to be able to improve understanding of graduation rates overall. The Report Card also now offers a look at student testing percentages with the “Students Not Tested” feature.
Additionally, the website design and structure has been upgraded. These improvements include an enhanced search algorithm on the homepage, which enables users to perform comprehensive, high-level searches with ease and efficiency. Screens have been redesigned to better display student growth trend data. Spanish language translation capabilities have been enhanced. To improve visibility, the color palate on the “Exceeds Performance” graphs has been modified. Finally, a new tab structure has been designed to aid in intuitive navigation of the website.
4. Q: Why is data on student academic growth and achievement not immediately available when the 2015 Report Card is released on Oct. 30?
A: This data will now be based on student-, school-, and district-level results from the first administration of the new Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) test. Illinois expects to receive these scores this fall. Once the results are available, the Report Card will be updated with district- and school-level data.
5. Q: How will the Report Card present the new PARCC results?
A: Educators, parents, and community members will be able to view how many students performed at each of the PARCC test’s five performance levels in English language arts and math by grade level in elementary school and by course level in high school. PARCC results will be represented on the Report Card separately from the data from previous statewide assessments, the Illinois Standards Achievement Test and the Prairie State Achievement Exam. The 2015 PARCC scores will provide a new baseline for measuring student progress moving forward
6 Q: How does the School Report Card benefit my school?
A: The School Report Card highlights each school’s strengths – including special programs, college and career readiness, extracurriculars, or growth rate – while at the same time identifying potential areas for improvement. Clear, detailed, and accessible information on academic performance, school climate, and learning conditions will inform local discussion and school improvement plans.
7. Q: How does the School Report Card benefit my child?
A: The new School Report Card helps families learn more about their local schools with information on performance, growth, special programs, and extracurricular activities. After reviewing results on the School Report Card, parents will be better equipped to talk to teachers and administrators about their child’s performance in school and ongoing efforts to improve student and school-wide academic performance, climate, and culture.
8. Q: What is the origin of the data for the School Report Card?
A: Most of the data reported on the School Report Card is collected by ISBE from school districts through data systems such as the state’s Student Information System and Employment Information System. Some data, such as information on extracurricular activites, is entered directly by principals on illinoisreportcard.com so that it can be kept up to date throughout the year. A few data elements, such as the percentage of high school graduates enrolling in college, come from the new Illinois Statewide Longitudinal Data System.
9. Q: Why can’t I find an individual child’s test scores?
A: Individual test scores are confidential by law, which protects your child’s privacy. Contact your child’s teacher for information about your child’s scores and academic progress.
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