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Dear Parents/Guardians of District 58,
I hope this letter finds you well and that if your family celebrated Halloween, you enjoyed the fun, fall tradition like mine does every year. Thanksgiving is right around the corner and we are extremely grateful to have the opportunity to work in an amazing school district with such supportive families. Thank you for your partnership and for allowing us the privilege of working with your children.
2023 Illinois School Report Card
On Monday, the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) published the 2023 School Illinois School Report Card at www.illinoisreportcard.com. The Illinois Assessment of Readiness (IAR) tests all students in English Language Arts (ELA) and mathematics, while fifth and eighth-grade students are assessed in science. The performance on this assessment is what constitutes the 2023 Illinois School Report Card. This report card presents metrics on every Illinois school, including achievement, growth, school funding, and demographics. It also gives each school a summative designation – a descriptor of how well the school is meeting its students’ needs. In addition to the state’s website, you can also find District and individual school results on our website.
District 58 is proud and excited to share that our students made achievement gains in all three areas of the assessment when compared to last school year. ELA increased by 11.9%, mathematics increased by 2.0% and science increased by 3.9%. Due to our strong performance on the IAR, all District 58 schools earned either exemplary or commendable, the state’s highest summative designation. Information from ISBE regarding summative designations can be found here. Additionally, an explanation of how designations are calculated can be found here.
District 58 is also proud and excited to share that we have met the Key Performance Indicators established by the Board of Education for achievement/academic proficiency and growth.
Key Performance Indicator #1 - Academic Proficiency
The academic proficiency indicator measures the percentage of students who have demonstrated grade-level proficiency in reading and math as measured by objective assessments. Academic proficiency is reported in grades 3-8 via the Illinois Assessment of Readiness (IAR) and grades K-8 via NWEA MAP assessments.
Metric: Percentage of students meeting or exceeding state proficiency benchmark
Benchmark: State 75th percentile for Reading (ELA); State 85th percentile for Math
2023 Performance: 90th percentile for ELA; 94th percentile for Math
Key Performance Indicator #2 - Academic Growth
The academic growth indicator measures the degree to which students are demonstrating personal growth on objective assessments. It reports the degree to which students scored above or below their personalized projection in reading and math. Personalized projections are set using a student’s prior assessment history to project his/her most probable score on an assessment. Assessment growth is reported in grades 3-8 via the Illinois Assessment of Readiness (IAR) and grades 1 through 8 for NWEA MAP assessments.
Metric: Percentage of students demonstrating expected or higher-than-expected growth
Benchmark: 85%
2023 Performance: 85% of students demonstrated expected or higher growth as measured by ECRA.
We continue to analyze and improve all facets of our programming via a robust school improvement process with a focus on student outcomes. We not only examine assessment data on the annual Illinois School Report Card and other reports but more importantly, in the classroom learning that occurs daily in our schools.
In addition to various school improvement initiatives at the individual buildings, a major area of focus for improvement in District 58 will be chronic absenteeism. This year’s report card data indicates that the District experienced an increase in chronic absenteeism by 6.3% from the previous year. Overall, 16.4% of District 58 students were chronically absent last year. This means that those students missed more than 10% of the school year or approximately 18 days. Chronic absenteeism has a detrimental impact on students emotionally, socially and academically. If your child is having difficulty attending school, please reach out to your building principal (our team will also be in touch). The District has a number of support options available to assist families. We need your support to reverse this alarming trend. Many of our students have made a great deal of progress. Our goal is for all students to make progress and attendance plays a critical role in helping our students grow and achieve to their fullest potential.
In the past, the District administration would visit each school in the evening to present to families the Illinois School Report Card. Attendance has been very low at these events so we are discontinuing that practice. Last week, we shared extensive data with the Board of Education about student assessments and the school improvement process. You can read the Board Briefs here or view the Board meeting video. We will also share a complete analysis of this year’s Illinois School Report Card data at our next Board meeting on Nov. 13, 2023, at 7 p.m.
Please feel free to reach out to your building principal or our Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction Liz Ehrhart if you have any questions or would like additional information. We are here to support our families’ understanding of the Illinois School Report Card.
District 58 Awarded Competitive Grant
I am proud to announce that the District was awarded a significant competitive grant, the largest of all schools in DuPage County, to continue to support students’ social, emotional and mental health. Downers Grove is no different than the rest of the country and many students’ mental health has suffered since the pandemic. This grant will provide mental health awareness, support and education programs, help create professional development for our educators and create a more cohesive structure to support students community-wide.
American Education Week
Finally, Nov. 13-17 is American Education Week. As a history teacher, I like to understand the origins of a holiday and I learned it was first celebrated in 1921 over concerns of illiteracy. Now, it’s celebrated to honor the importance of education and those who contribute to the educational process.
Unsung Heroes
One of the unsung heroes of the educational process is the Board of Education. Board members work without pay for four years and prepare for 2-4 board or committee meetings a month that sometimes run as long as 3-4 hours. This year, board members took on a heavier workload as the District began its Strategic Planning process, attending and leading these community-wide meetings. Join me in celebrating and thanking them on Nov. 15 for School Board Members Day.
Thank you for your continued partnership as we work together to support your student.
Sincerely,
Kevin B. Russell
Superintendent
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