The first-ever state-required report cards for all Illinois public elementary and high schools provide evidence to confirm some beliefs about the schools, but they also puncture some myths and unearth some surprises.
As expected, students in schools in Du Page and Kane Counties generally perform better than Chicago students according to key indicators such as American College Testing (ACT) exam scores and standardized reading and mathematics tests.
Usually, the more affluent the community served by a school, the higher the student performances. This was true throughout Du Page but was most clearly seen in two wealthy districts, Hinsdale Elementary District 181 and Butler Elementary District 53, Oak Brook, which had among the highest achievement scores in the Chicago area.
Chicago schools lag well behind most suburbs in test scores, but 45 percent of the city students come from low-income families. In many suburbs, fewer than 5 percent of youngsters are from poverty-level homes. The state average is 23.7 percent.
Only 6 of 209 public schools in Du Page–2 in West Chicago, 2 in Wheaton, one in Downers Grove and tiny McAuley Elementary School near West Chicago–had higher percentages of children from low-income homes than the state average.
In Kane County, 18 of the 44 schools in Elgin Unit District 46, and 14 of the 29 in the two districts serving Aurora, have higher-than-average numbers of low-income students, reflecting recent hard economic times in those cities. New Trier High School in Winnetka, for years regarded as one of the nation`s powerhouse schools, does have the highest average ACT score among public high schools in the six-county Chicago metropolitan area.
But three other high schools–Deerfield, Wheaton North, and Glenbard West in Glen Ellyn–have average scores only one-tenth of a point behind New Trier. That may mean that, on the average, New Trier seniors last year answered one more question correctly on the 219-question exam in English, mathematics, natural science and social science than students at the other three schools.
The number of New Trier students taking the ACT was more than twice the number at any of the other three schools. Educators say that the more students who take a test, the harder it is to maintain the same average.
Five of the top nine average ACT scores in the Chicago area belong to Du Page high schools. Along with Wheaton North and Glenbard West, Glenbard South in Glen Ellyn, Naperville Central and Naperville North were among the area`s ACT leaders. And every Du Page high school scored above the state average of 19.1.
But at least three Chicago-area Catholic high schools–all able to choose their students from among hundreds of well-qualified applicants–have higher ACT averages than New Trier. The three are Benet Academy in Lisle, St. Ignatius College Preparatory High School in Chicago and Fenwick in Oak Park.
The report card puts to rest a myth that may be held by some that all suburban schools are good and all Chicago schools are bad.
The average reading and mathematics standardized test scores in most suburban elementary schools exceed national and state averages, but some trail behind. Generally average scores in city public schools fall behind the state mark, but the overwhelming majority of students in some soar well above average.
”We will be interested to see how we compare to other school districts,” said Patricia O`Hern, a Chicago Board of Education member. ”I think there are going to be some real surprises.”
Perhaps the biggest surprise is that 10 city public elementary schools have among the highest reading and math achievements of any Chicago-area elementary schools. But children in these schools are all handpicked. Admissions requirements are at least two years above grade level in reading and math.
Another surprise is none of these schools has a predominantly white enrollment. Though three have sizable numbers of American-Asian pupils, seven have a majority of blacks.
The report cards destroy the perception that being black necessarily means subpar academic performance compared with whites. But being poor and not having the same educational preparation at home as youngsters from more affluent families is usually, but not always, a factor in school achievement. In several Chicago schools and an Elgin school where the percentage of children from low-income families exceeds state averages, reading and math scores are well above state averages. Not revealed, however, in the report cards is whether students from the higher-income families in those schools have the higher scores, or whether the poorer children are holding their own. Also punctured, in at least one suburban high school, is the contention that test scores always will decline when minority enrollment increases. At Oak Park-River Forest High School in Oak Park, minority enrollment has increased from 6.8 percent in 1975 to 25.5 percent in 1986. That includes 18.5 percent black, 4.5 percent Asian-American, 2.3 percent Hispanic and 0.2 percent American Indian/Alaskan native.
The average ACT score was 18.9 in 1975. It slipped, then regained ground, then dropped again to 18.4 in 1983. But in the last three years, it has been on a steady upward path to 19.1 in 1986. ”These scores show that the increase in minority enrollment has had no negative effect,” said John Swanson, superintendent at Oak Park-River Forest.
While nearly all suburban high schools report ACT averages above the state average of 19.1, only 2 of the 64 Chicago public high schools show ACT averages above the state mark. The two are Lane Tech and Young, both of which have selective admissions policies permitting them to pick among the best students who apply.
According to Manford Byrd Jr., Chicago school superintendent, the test is not ”an important event” in the lives of city students, which accounts in part for their relatively poorer performances.
Though Chicago public schools annually have made the achievement test scores public since 1968, most suburban schools have declined to release school-by-school performance indicators. Some suburban school superintendents are concerned about comparisons between school districts or between schools within their districts.
Ted Sanders, state superintendent of education, who favors the report cards, said, ”The report cards can serve as an important ingredient at the state level for continuing attention to our schools and to their needs and in keeping the body politic interested in the vitality of our schools.”
But Sanders also warned ”not to make judgments of schools based on just a single piece of information.”
Many suburban school superintendents have said that some reporting measures are flawed and that the report cards should not be used to judge the schools, regardless of how carefully the information is studied.
”Take the test scores with a grain of salt,” said Don Marcotte, Geneva school superintendent. ”People are going to make some assumptions that the report card means something,” added Russell Theims, Elmhurst school superintendent.
The many concerns of school superintendents can be boiled down to two words: rankings and comparisons.
The educators fear that the report cards somehow will be used by the press or real estate people to rank or compare schools. But they make these points:
— Reading and mathematics test scores cannot be compared from school to school or district to district because more than 200 different standardized tests are given in Illinois schools. Some are easier than others. Beginning in 1988, however, state law will require similar test items to be given in every school.
— ACT scores cannot be compared, nor can Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT)
scores, because varying percentages of students in different schools take these exams. The score may appear to be the same in two schools, but 90 percent of students may take the test in one compared with only 50 percent in the other.
— Schools have different mixes of students. Factors such as the percentage of children from low-income families and the number of transfers in and out during the school year must be considered, and there is no valid way to correlate these figures with test scores, educators say.
”The average reader should be warned against making odious comparisons without due consideration of the population mix of the school district,” said David Cox, Zion-Benton school superintendent.
If the report card emerges as a vehicle to compare schools because of reading test scores, education will suffer, warned Charles Young,
superintendent of Glencoe elementary schools.
”Teachers will change their priorities,” he said. ”They know the comparison game.”
State Rep. Mary Lou Cowlishaw (R., Naperville), one legislator supporting the report cards, admits ”there are fears of misunderstanding and unjustified accusations.”
But she emphasized: ”The public is entitled to that information. The public pays for our schools. Report cards will help immeasurably to increase public interest and public confidence in our schools.”
