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District 26 reports rising STAR benchmark scores; plans to raise proficiency goal and switch benchmark tools
Summary
Teaching & Learning presented 2024–25 STAR benchmark results showing district-wide gains in reading and math, recommended raising the proficiency target from the 30th to the 40th percentile and proposed shifting benchmark tools and progress‑monitoring to increase rigor and alignment with state assessment expectations.
District 26’s teaching and learning leadership presented the final 2024–25 STAR benchmark results to the board on July 21, 2025, reporting multi-year gains across grade levels and recommending a higher district proficiency target and a change in benchmark tools for 2025–26.
Why it matters: Benchmark and progress-monitoring tools and the district’s proficiency targets affect instruction, intervention, accountability and how leaders and families interpret student performance relative to state assessments.
Director of Teaching and Learning (presenter) reviewed early-literacy results and district trends. Kindergarten students showed marked improvement on foundational measures: 68% met the letter-name benchmark (up from 55% in 2023) and 69% met the letter‑sound benchmark (up from 49% in 2023). The presenter said stronger early literacy foundation supports later reading gains.
For grades 1–8 reading, the district reported an increase from 63% at or above the 30th percentile in 2021 to 76% in 2025 on STAR — the highest level the presenter said the district has seen. In math, the district said it met an earlier goal of 80% at or above the 30th percentile under STAR; district-level math performance rose to 80% in 2025 by STAR metrics. Based on trends and research linking STAR percentile thresholds to state outcomes, the presenter recommended raising the district proficiency benchmark from the 30th percentile to the 40th percentile for 2025–26 and selecting a new benchmark tool with a stronger predictive relationship to the Illinois summative assessment (IAR).
The presenter also described plans to change the benchmark and progress-monitoring tool to one with an integrated learning platform to support classroom-level formative assessment and triage (benchmark + two progress-monitoring sources). She said the district will continue triangulating student performance with at least three data sources before making instructional decisions so that a single data point does not drive interventions. The district plans targeted professional development, curricular adjustments and additional support for newcomer English learners at the junior high level.
Board members asked about cohort dips between certain grade transitions (for example, a visible dip at the 5th-to-6th-grade transition in one cohort). The teaching-and-learning presenter described multiple steps taken to improve vertical articulation, including standards-progressions embedded in curriculum maps, trimester pacing and dedicated vertical articulation time for teachers during institute days to align instruction across grades.
The presenter cautioned that moving from STAR to a more rigorous benchmark and raising the percentile target may initially reduce reported proficiency because of higher rigor; she urged patience and multi-year monitoring. The board agreed to publish results and use them to celebrate staff and student progress; the presenter said staff will work through institute day and the coming year to implement the assessment and curriculum changes.
No formal policy changes were adopted at the meeting; the presentation signaled an instructional shift and operational steps that will be embedded in curriculum and assessment plans for 2025–26.
