Dear District 204 Community,
At the October 22 Board of Education meeting, we reviewed student performance on state mandated tests. I'm pleased to share with the community that our students continue to perform exceedingly well. We saw incredibly high achievement, with 93.6 percent of our students meeting or exceeding state standards on the Illinois Standards Achievement Test (ISAT) for the combined areas of reading, math, and science.
Other highlights include outstanding math achievement, with every grade level tested achieving scores ranging from 93 to 96 percent. Reading scores were also strong, with scores ranging from 90 to 94 percent.
The district's 2012 ACT composite score of 24.2 remains significantly higher than the state average of 20.6 and the national average of 21.1. District 204 students' composite scores have risen by 0.8 in the past five years alone, significantly outpacing the state's average growth of 0.2 in this same time period.
In the past few years, we have focused on closing achievement gaps with subgroups. We saw growth in the majority of subgroups, including an increase in scores for Hispanic and Limited English Proficiency students. No Child Left Behind requires that at least 85 percent of students within each subgroup meet or exceed standards. The subgroups that did not meet the 85 percent target include Students with Disabilities, Economically Disadvantaged, and Black.
I invite you to review the achievement presentation materials from the board meeting. You can find the presentation slides below, and on Tuesday, October 23, you will be able to view a video of the presentation at www.204tv.org.
Kathy Birkett
Superintendent