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Urbana SD 116 reviews student attendance and MAP performance, spotlights disparities
Summary
District leaders told the board the 2024–25 school year ended with 39% chronic absenteeism and mixed MAP growth results, and unveiled a new data dashboard and strategies — including Panorama, attendance verification and AVID/SEL supports — aimed at narrowing achievement gaps.
Urbana School District 116 officials on Monday presented year-end school-improvement findings that district staff said show modest gains on some MAP measures alongside persistent chronic absenteeism and equity gaps.
Christina Kayla Lewandowski, the district staff member leading the data overview, told the board the district closed the year at about 39% chronic absenteeism — short of the district target of 34% — and that absenteeism rose in winter months and again near the end of the year. She emphasized differences by race and grade and said the district will use Panorama and other tools to target interventions.
"Over the course of the year it dipped below 34% at points and then rose toward the winter and end of the year," Lewandowski said, summarizing monthly and subgroup trends for the board.
On student achievement, staff presented MAP assessment data showing a district-wide pattern of mixed growth and achievement. The district reported roughly 15.9% of students clearly met or exceeded their projected growth goals and called attention to a substantial share of students who narrowly missed growth targets by 1–2 points.
"When you combine the lowest quintile levels we look at how that projects to our state IAR assessment," Lewandowski said, noting the district is watching both growth percentiles and achievement bands to monitor readiness for state assessments.
Staff also demonstrated a new interactive dashboard that allows administrators to disaggregate MAP results by program, language pathway and subgroup. The tool, officials said, lets principals and teams examine performance of dual-language students, grade-to-grade cohorts and individual students to better tailor supports.
District leaders told the board they will prioritize a mix of strategies: clarifying testing administration and test-prep practices, strengthening attendance verification processes, and expanding targeted school-based interventions that use Panorama data to log parent contacts and track tiered supports. Board members asked for further drilldowns by language program and combination-class configurations and were told that disaggregated reports can be produced.
The board heard the presentations as part of its annual school-improvement review and will revisit the data in August as schools finalize fall professional development and implementation plans.
