ISBE announces earliest release of Report Card data to schools in more than 20 years

SPRINGFIELD - The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) announced today the release of the 2007 School Report Card to schools and districts statewide - the earliest release in the 21-years of producing school report cards. Analysis of the 2007 statewide testing data also shows improvement and ongoing progress for Illinois' students.

"Getting student assessment scores out on time has been a priority for me since starting in this position. As education decision making becomes more and more driven by data, it is imperative schools get accurate information in a timely manner," said State Superintendent of Education Christopher Koch. "Our goal is to build on what we've done this year to ensure that in the future we can have these results to schools sooner and in a way that allows them to make more efficient use of the data."

ISBE has produced the School Report Card since 1986 for every public school and district in the state. State report cards have been produced since 2002 and are required by the federal No Child Left Behind law. Report cards now include the Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) School Status information.

The most recent tests were given in March and April. Students in third - eighth grades took the Illinois Standards Achievement Test (ISAT) in reading and mathematics while students in fourth and seventh grades were tested in science and fifth and eighth grade students were tested in writing. Students in 11th grade take the Prairie State Achievement Exam (PSAE), which tests students in math, reading and science.

The statewide average percentage of students meeting or exceeding standards on ISAT increased from 77% in 2006 to 78.7% in 2007, while the average percentage of students meeting and exceeding standards on the PSAE fell from 54.3% last year to 52.6% this year. Students with limited English-proficiency take the Illinois Measure of Annual Growth in English exam (IMAGE) and the statewide average of students meeting and exceeding standards on IMAGE increased this year to 63.4% from 61.6%. Students with disabilities whose participation in ISAT or the PSAE would not be appropriate take the Illinois Alternate Assessment (IAA). The state average on IAA declined 3.5 points to 59.1%.

ISAT Statewide Average Percentage Meets/Exceeds:
Reading 2007 2006
Grade 3 73.0 70.7
Grade 4 73.7 72.9
Grade 5 69.7 68.5
Grade 6 73.4 72.8 
Grade 7 73.4 72.0
Grade 8 81.8 79.2

Math  2007 2006
Grade 3 86.8 85.6
Grade 4 86.4 84.8 
Grade 5 82.5 78.6
Grade 6 81.4 79.1
Grade 7 79.4 76.1
Grade 8 81.3 78.2

Science 2007 2006
Grade 4 79.8 79.8
Grade 7 79.3 80.9

PSAE Statewide Averages Percentage Meets/Exceeds:
Reading 2007 2006
Grade 11 54.1 58.4

Math  2007 2006
Grade 11 52.7 53.6

Science 2007 2006
Grade 11 51.0 50.8

NCLB requires all states to measure each public school's and district's achievements and establish annual achievement targets for the state. The overreaching goal is for all students to meet or exceed standards in reading and mathematics by 2014.

The Report Card offers a wealth of useful and important information for students, schools and districts, as well as parents and community members including overall student performance; performance on state assessments; student demographics; and financial information.

Local districts must release their report cards to the public by October 31st. The ISBE Report Card will be available to the public on that date.