District curriculum staff Liz Ehrhar summarized the district's 2025 Illinois School Report Card at the Nov. 10 Downers Grove Grade School District 58 board meeting, reporting that 75.8% of students met ELA proficiency and 66% met math proficiency. Ehrhar said the district's overall science proficiency was 68% and that participation in state assessments was essentially universal across the district.

Why it matters: Ehrhar told the board that those proficiency rates place the district well above statewide averages in 2025 and that, by some measures, District 58 ranks near the top of comparable DuPage County elementary districts. "Our ELA proficiency is 75.8%," Ehrhar said, and she added that the district's IAR percentile ranks placed the district around the 90th percentile in ELA and the 93rd percentile in math statewide.

Board members pressed for context about subgroup performance and what the district will do next. Ehrhar and staff described the district's multi-tiered system of supports (MTSS), attendance interventions, and targeted programming for English learners and students with IEPs. Ehrhar highlighted that chronic absenteeism had decreased in 2025 and noted that students who were chronically absent (defined by the district as missing roughly 10% of school days) tended to show lower assessment results. "We do see that students who are chronically absent do tend to see lower performance on their state assessments," she said.

The presentation also addressed growth metrics. Ehrhar explained that IAR and ECRA growth calculations aim to track student progress over time and that some grade-level comparisons are affected by newly reset proficiency cut scores this year. She told the board she will participate in a statewide listening tour on proposed summative-designation changes and will return with updates for the board and principals.

What's next: Staff said principals will share report-card highlights at upcoming PTA meetings and that the district will continue elementary and middle-school curriculum reviews, including a middle-school math committee and an elementary math review to recommend instructional resources.

Provenance: topicintro SEG 462; topfinish SEG 846.