Downward Trend In Scores At Elmhurst D-205

Elmhurst IL

27 October, 2021

12:22 PM

Description

ELMHURST, IL — Various metrics largely show the same thing at Elmhurst School District 205 — students' academic performance is dropping. School board members are expressing concern with the trend, which is blamed on the effects of the pandemic. Here are some of the key statistics: For the Illinois Assessment of Readiness, which tests students from third through eighth grades every year, 42 percent met expectations last year for both language arts and math. In 2018, 54 percent of students met expectations for language arts and 50 percent for math. For the SAT, 57 percent met the math benchmarks in 2021 at York High School, down from 70 percent in 2018. On the SAT's reading and writing section, 73 percent met the benchmarks, compared with 80 percent in 2018. According to the district, 37 percent of low-income students met the SAT benchmarks for reading and writing in 2021, while 16 percent of them did so for math. Eight percent of English learners met the benchmarks for both math and reading and writing. The passing rate for Advanced Placement tests at York High School in 2021 was 74 percent, down from 88 percent in 2018. One of the few bright spots in the numbers was the one tracking ninth-graders on track, meaning those who earn at least 10 credits at the end of the first year and not failing more than one course for credit. That number was 94.7 percent in 2019. It rose to 97.1 percent in 2021. At their meeting Tuesday, board members said the district needed to address the falling numbers. Member Chris Kocinski said some student groups are approaching single digits in some categories of meeting standards, which he called "sad." "I hope there's more that we can do. I assume that there is," he said. "In a district like ours, seeing some cohorts below 25 percent is concerning." Member Karen Stuefen agreed, saying the math numbers in particular alarmed her. "We've done a lot of work on math over the years, and these numbers don't show it," she said. Member Jim Collins requested the board revisit the data on academic performance more than once a year. Superintendent Keisha Campbell, who took the helm in the summer, said she appreciated the board's focus on the particular impact of the pandemic on some student groups. "As we have learned in this data, we can see how much the pandemic has had a very adverse effect on certain populations," she said. "We will continue to really examine the data." The board plans to take another look at academic performance statistics at a meeting next month. The district's trend is not unusual in the wake of the pandemic. Last week, Lyons Township High School in La Grange reported similar drops in performance.