2012 Illinois school report cards have been released and many schools in our area didn't pass.
With just a few clicks parents can find test scores, school finances and 2012 Illinois school report cards online. But many schools in our area didn’t pass. Moline High School is just one of the schools that didn’t meet the Federal education requirement.
It's unrealistic to expect that 95-percent of students will reach the requirement "when by nature, any standardized assessment, 10, 15, 20% of your kids will never reach that bar,” says Wayne Cabel, assistant principal at Moline High School.
Moline High School is not the only one that didn’t pass; Rock Island High School and Garfield Elementary School also ranked below the standard.
Moline High School officials say the report card is based on a few things, like graduation rate, demographics and assessments. There have been some changes to the criteria - one is the graduation rate.
"Now it goes specifically with the cohort data, so how many ninth graders you have coming in and how many graduates within that four years" are part of the ratings according to Cabel.
One problem with that is, students who take an extra semester to graduate are considered drop outs and that could affect a school's score.
“We want every one of our students to be workplace ready or ready to go to the next level regardless of their career pursuits,” says Cabel.
So the school has implemented a few things teachers can do to help prepare their students for the future.
"We can challenge the higher achieving students and help those who need more directive assistance with further enrichment,” says Moline High School Spanish teacher, Christopher Moore.
The schools assessment is going to eventually take into account student growth rather than just one test score.
"We've been measuring growth with the ACT or EPAS system for several years and we're very very pleased with our student growth,” says Cabel.
The Chicago Tribune posted the 2012 Illinois report card on their website. To view your child's school report card you can click here.
To read the state’s report identifying the schools that need to improve to meet the No Child Left Behind click here.