District 204 summarizes credit-recovery and summer programs; officials report gains toward graduation

JOLIET, Ill. ' The board received an annual summary of District 204's credit-recovery and summer programs, including results from winter and spring sessions, gateway programs for seniors, and a new online offering for US history.

Diane McDonald, the district's presenter for credit recovery, told the board winter and spring recovery offerings provide roughly 20 hours of instruction for one core class and prioritize English then math. She said the district earned about 199 semester credits in winter recovery and about 153 semester credits in spring recovery in the most recent year; McDonald estimated roughly 311 students participated across those sessions in 2023'24.

The district reported that students who completed math recovery passed subsequent math classes at a high rate: staff reported roughly 90 percent of those students passed their later math coursework. McDonald said that the classes students most commonly failed before recovery were English II for sophomores, U.S. history for juniors, and English IV for seniors.

Programs described included embedded in-school recovery for students who failed ninth-grade core classes, the "Gateway to Graduation" evening and summer programs for seniors who are credit-deficient, an "Excel" program for students with interrupted education that uses an online curriculum with bilingual staff case-management supports, and a summer online U.S. history offering on subject.com. The district said three "gateway" teachers worked in summer sessions and that the "golden grads" summer offering graduated 36 of 46 students by July, allowing them to count with their cohort.

Board members asked for counts and clarifications about outcomes; McDonald supplied percentages and said the programs together form a continuum that has contributed to multi-year gains in graduation rates. No board vote was required; the presentation was informational.