The Illinois State Board of Education released the Illinois Report Card on Oct. 30. The annual report “shows how the state, and each school and district, are progressing on a wide range of educational goals,” according to ISBE’s website.

“The Report Card offers a complete picture of student and school performance in order to inform and empower families and communities as they support their local schools,” ISBE explains.

To access the Illinois Interactive Report Card, a web-based version of the report card is available that “allows for users to view performance comparisons between school and districts, review trend data, and break data into subcategories.” 

Enrollment 

In D209, enrollment has held steady since 2015, when the district had 4,605 students. In 2019, 4,592 students were enrolled at the three high schools.

Chronic truancy

The district’s chronic truancy rate — or the percentage of students in the district who “miss 5 percent or more of school days per year without a valid excuse” — has jumped from 20 percent in 2018 to 46 percent in 2019. The dropout rate also went up, increasing to 5 percent in 2019. The rate had been steady at 2 percent between 2015 and 2018. The state average in 2019 was 13 percent.

Chronic Absenteeism 

Chronic absenteeism in D89 — or the “percentage of students who miss 10% percent or more of school days per year either with or without a valid excuse” — was 46 percent in 2019, up radically from 2018, when it was 27 percent. The state average was 18 percent in 2019.

School performance

According to the Illinois State Board of Education, “Illinois has four summative designations: Exemplary School, Commendable School, Underperforming School, and Lowest-Performing School. Underperforming schools and Lowest-Performing schools receive additional funding and supports to build local capacity and improve student outcomes. Multiple measures of school performance and growth determine a school’s designation.”

In 2019, PMSA was exemplary, Proviso West was commendable while Proviso East was lowest performing.

Academic performance

In D209, 17 percent of students who took the SAT achieved scores demonstrating that they met or exceeded state standards in English and Language Arts (ELA) while 14 percent met or exceeded state standards in math.

Across the state, 37 percent of students who took the SAT achieved scores demonstrating that they met or exceeded state standards in English and Language Arts (ELA) while 35 percent met or exceeded state standards in math.

Low-income students

A student is designated low-income if they come from “families receiving public aid, living in substitute care, or eligible to receive free or reduced price lunches.”

In 2019, the percentage of low-income students at D209 was 34 percent. Between 2015 and 2018, the percentage of low-income students ranged from a high of 65 percent in 2015 to a low of 30 percent in 2018.