District reports modest academic gains, equity gaps; middle school cohort shows strongest improvement

District staff gave an update on the Equity Progress Indicator (EPI) and strategic‑plan metrics, reporting progress in middle grades, declines in high‑level behavior incidents districtwide and mixed academic growth in early grades.

The presentation covered three broad areas: learning conditions, student learning and a new set of early‑childhood assessments at JEH. Presenters said districtwide attendance is close to the district target, behavioral incidents at higher intensity (level 3–5) have declined over three years, and a cohort of eighth‑grade students showed measurable gains in math percentile ranking from 56 to 67 over two years.

Staff reported the district’s attendance goal is 95 percent and said current district attendance is 93.8 percent, slightly improved from the prior year. The district is tracking behavior intensity and suspension rates; presenters reported the district suspension rate as “below 2 percent,” noting a current figure of 0.01 percent in the winter snapshot presented to the board. Staff also said the total number of students with individualized education plans (IEPs) decreased from roughly 1,600 to about 1,000 over a recent period and that high‑intensity behavior incidents for students with IEPs dropped from about 360 to 301.

Presenters identified equity concerns that require attention. On the Panorama student survey, fifth‑through‑eighth‑grade sense of belonging rose to 58 percent positive responses (the highest recorded in the district’s reporting), but staff highlighted a subgroup finding: about 21 percent of Black or African American students in that sample reported lower belonging (they “do not belong” or “only belong a little”), which staff said remains significantly higher than other groups. Black and African American students continue to account for a disproportionate share of behavior incidents even as overall incidents decline.

On student learning, staff said kindergarten and first‑grade phonics outcomes showed strong percentages meeting or exceeding expectations in both English and Spanish (first‑grade phonics roughly mid‑60s percent; kindergarten phonics/word recognition about 74 percent). Winter‑to‑winter growth rates in math and language arts declined compared with prior year winter snapshots: the winter growth rate in math dropped from 69 percent to 49 percent and language arts from 62 percent to 53 percent in the district’s winter-to-winter snapshot, which staff flagged for follow‑up.

Donna (presenter for the EPI report) explained the district’s first year with standards‑based grading in middle school and compared trimester grades to projected IAR proficiency (Illinois Assessment of Readiness) using NWEA MAP linking studies. In most middle‑school grade/subject combinations she reported reasonable alignment between standards‑based grades and projected IAR proficiency, with the exception of sixth‑grade math where trimester grades showed more students “meeting/extending” than the projected proficiency suggested.

The JEH early‑childhood team reported early results from a new universal screener, Cognitive Toy Box, a five‑minute game‑based assessment aligned to standards and used to supplement the district’s observational teaching strategies assessments. Narsha Pari, director of early childhood programs at JEH, said fall results showed 60 percent of students meeting age expectations, with noted strengths in executive functioning and vocabulary and areas for growth in reading comprehension and lower‑case alphabet recognition. Midyear rescreening showed gains in vocabulary and quantifiers and modest growth in lower‑case alphabet performance; staff said they are using the results to guide embedded family activities, paraprofessional training and targeted teaching strategies.

Trustees and staff discussed several follow‑up items: (1) disaggregating cognitive‑toy-box and other assessment results by race, IEP status and multilingual learner status; (2) investigating the winter‑to‑winter slowdown in growth rates; (3) exploring whether the decline in high‑level behavior incidents reflects changes in reporting, improved classroom de‑escalation (CPI) training, or other school‑level practices; and (4) continuing program evaluation for new positions such as face liaisons and counselors. The board asked staff to make data and dashboards accessible to school leaders and to return with school‑level breakdowns where trends appear notably stronger or weaker.

Board members praised the middle‑school gains and urged that the district study what is working in the higher‑performing middle‑school cohorts so those practices can be replicated in younger grades. Staff said program‑evaluation work is under way and will include annual formative metrics and more formal 3–5 year summative reviews.