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District presents professional development plan and Illinois School Report Card data; enrollment and attendance down year over year
Summary
District staff reviewed professional development priorities tied to literacy and math, digital instructional tools and coaching, and presented Illinois School Report Card data showing proficiency below state averages; enrollment fell to 11,744 and attendance to 90.84% compared with last year's figures.
District staff used the committee meeting to link professional development priorities with assessment results on the Illinois School Report Card and to report current enrollment and attendance figures.
A district presenter reviewed how PD is being scheduled and targeted: a mix of summer work, SIP and institute days, in‑building coaching cycles, after‑school sessions, and consultant supports such as I‑Ready coaching. The presenter listed digital tools and resources available to teachers (examples in the transcript include Canva, Kami, School Links, PebbleGo, Google, Nearpod and others) and said buildings have some autonomy to allocate time for building‑led PD that aligns to school improvement plans.
On assessment data, the presenter said district proficiency lags the state: math proficiency in the district was presented at roughly 15% compared with just under 40% statewide in the same chart; ELA proficiency at the state level was reported above 50%, with the district below that figure. The presenter highlighted subgroup gaps, particularly children with disabilities (CWD), and discussed growth percentiles and the district's emphasis on "more than typical" growth to close gaps. High school assessment changes were noted: this year students took the ACT (rather than SAT) and the district has added targeted ACT preparation and a preACT administration to improve readiness.
District enrollment as of Nov. 10 was reported at 11,744 students, down from 12,329 at a similar date last year. The district attendance rate was reported at 90.84%, down from about 93.47% the previous year. The presenter said the district is using dashboards and data dives to identify needs and to target supports where growth and proficiency lags are largest.
Committee members asked for clarification about the state recalibration of proficiency benchmarks and how the district interprets the new comparisons; district staff responded that the state's recent recalibration moved Illinois closer to a national middle, which affects proficiency thresholds differently by grade level.
The committee received the briefing as information; staff will continue monitoring and returning to the committee with pilot results and next steps.
