Community Consolidated Elementary District 181 officials are pleased with the assessment of student learning reflected in this year’s Illinois Report Cards, with six of the district’s nine schools earning the top performance designation.
The district as a whole had 77 percent of its students meet or exceed state standards in English language arts, up from 74 percent in 2018. In math, the meet-and-exceed percentage held steady at 72 percent year over year. And in science, which was not assessed last year for the report cards, the district had 86 percent of students perform proficiently, compared to 49 percent statewide.
Superintendent Hector Garcia said in a statement that the data reinforces the belief that the district is thriving.
“We are proud of the strides that we have made in the area of learning, finance and culture this year. District 181 continues to be among the top school districts in terms of student learning by virtue of our performance on state and local assessments,” he commented. “We have also remained committed to being good stewards of our local resources by focusing most of our spending at the classroom level. As we continue to make progress in multiple areas, we are proud of having an outstanding school culture in every school due to the strong partnerships with our staff, school board, parents, and community.
Schools are deemed exemplary, commendable, underperforming or lowest performing based on student performance, student growth from the previous year and English language learners’ progress toward proficiency. The six district schools that earned the exemplary designation were Elm, Madison, Monroe, Oak, Prospect and Walker. The other three, Clarendon Hills Middle School, Hinsdale Middle School and The Lane, received a commendable rating. Monroe, which was rated commendable last year, was the only school to have its designation changed.
Kathleen Robinson, assistant superintendent of learning, said in a statement that the district aims to implement the most effective practices to promote student learning and success.
“As we review and celebrate our current student performance and schools’ summative designations, we remain committed to continuous improvement and to providing the support for every child to succeed,” Robinson said. “The D181 department of learning has a narrow focus of balancing academic achievement, student growth and building strong social emotional competencies in our students.”
Administrators are expected to present the report card data at an upcoming school board meeting.
