The report cards are out - not for students, but schools in our area.
The Illinois Board of Education released the Illinois Report Card on Thursday, October 31st, 2013.
It found more than half (21) of the elementary schools in the Illinois QCA are below the state average for reading and math proficiency according to test scores on the ISAT (Illinois Standard Achievement Test). News 8 looked at 38 elementary schools in a 20-mile radius around Moline.
Of those 21 schools, 8 out of 9 are in the Rock-Island Milan School District and 4 of those 8 are in the bottom 10.
Rock Island Academy had the lowest score with 22.8% of its students meeting or exceeding in the ISAT. Next, Frances Willard Elementary had 24.6%. Longfellow Elementary at 29.8% and Earl Hanson Elementary at 36.5% were also in the bottom 10.
Kathy Taylor, Director of Teaching and Learning with the District, says they're disappointed of where they are, but "we also know where we need to grow and we want to focus on that."
She says the ISAT is not the only way the District measures student achievement.
"We have other growth measures that we want to pay attention to as well, so though ISAT is important to us, it is a data point that we want to use to help us further instruction and further student learning," Taylor said. "We do have other measures that we take into account across the year to track student growth from point A to B to C, etcetera."
Taylor says the District uses Illinois Common Core Learning Standards as well as something they called "graduate profiles" to help students get ready for higher education and beyond.
"We’re going to work on getting our kids ready in any way that we can, but that graduate profile is our driving force. We want to make sure that they are prepared and ready in whatever they take on as they graduate and walk across that stage for Rock Island," Taylor said.
There is one reason why some of the schools' scores are below the state average. Between the 2011-2012 and 2012-2013 school years, the minimum scores needed to pass the ISAT were raised. In 2011-2012, 82.5% of students statewide met or exceeded in the ISAT. After the changes in 2012-2013, the number dropped to 58.8%.
"We know that the number is one fact," Taylor said. "It is a fact that we face and we say we are very disappointed in this, but we know that we are working on things and we know that we are moving in the right direction."
Rock Island-Milan was not the only school district that stood out on the Illinois Report Card. You can find a list of Illinois QCA schools below with more information:
Elementary Schools:
Wells Elementary School, East Moline
Ericsson Elementary School, Moline
Eagle Ride School, Silvis
Hillcrest Elementary School, East Moline
Colona Grade School, Colona
George O Barr School, Silvis
Lincoln-Irving Elementary School, Moline
Ridgewood Elementary School, Rock Island
Denkmann Elementary School, Rock Island
Logan Elementary School, Moline
Willard Elementary School, Moline
Bowlesburg Elementary School, Silvis
Ridgewood Elementary School, East Moline
Butterworth Elementary School, Moline
Hamilton Elementary School, Moline
Roosevelt Elementary School, Moline
Eugene Field Elementary School, Rock Island
C R Hanna Elementary School, Orion
Winola Elementary School, Viola
Garfield Elementary School, Moline
Sherrard Elementary School, Sherrard
Matherville Intermediate School, Matherville
AlWood Elementary School, Alpha
Andalusia Elementary School, Andalusia
Riverdale Elementary School, Port Byron
Jane Addams Elementary School, Moline
Bicentennial Elementary School, Coal Valley
Hampton Elementary School, Hampton
Reynolds Elementary School, Reynolds
Taylor Ridge Elementary School, Taylor Ridge
Millikin Elementary School, Geneseo
Northside Elementary School, Geneseo
Southwest Elementary School, Geneseo
Middle Schools:
Orion Middle School, Orion
Rockridge Junior High School, Taylor Ridge
Sherrard Junior High School, Sherrard
Riverdale Middle School, Port Byron
Woodrow Wilson Middle School, Moline
John Deere Middle School, Moline
Washington Junior High School, Rock Island
Glenview Middle School, East Moline
Northeast Junior High School, East Moline
Edison Junior High School, Rock Island
High Schools:
Orion High School, Orion
Rockridge High School, Taylor Ridge
Riverdale Senior High School, Port Byron
Moline Senior High School, Moline
Sherrard High School, Sherrard
United Township High School, East Moline
Rock Island High School, Rock Island
To search for other schools in Illinois, click here.