East St. Louis School District remains on the path to improvement based on the Illinois State Board of Education 2024 Report Card which updates the public on a wide range of educational goals.
The Spring 2024 Report Card was recently released, and it details how effectively schools are meeting “the diverse needs of all students.”
Schools are assigned points on indicators incuding graduation rates, chronic absenteeism, and academic growth. A school can receive one of five designations: Exemplary, Commendable, Targeted Support, Comprehensive Support, or Intensive Support.
A solid report card for East St. Schools showed that of its nine eligible schools, seven received the Commendable designation.
“We are making meaningful progress toward our goals,” said East St. Louis School District 189 Superintendent Arthur R. Culver.
“I commend our school leaders, educators, support staff, and especially our outstanding students and their families. Their hard work and commitment to excellence continue to drive improvements in numerous indicators of student success.”
Lincoln and Mason/Clark Middle Schools received a Targeted Support designation, which means they are performing well but need to improvement in serving a specific student subpopulation, “namely, students with disabilities,” according to the report.
Notable areas highlighted on this year’s School Report Card include:
- James Avant Elementary – The highest-scoring school within the district, coming close to achieving Exemplary status, a distinction awarded to only the top 10% of schools statewide in Illinois.
- Dr. Katie Harper Wright Elementary – Wright experienced the greatest summative score increase from the previous year, with “considerable overall improvement.”
- Lincoln Middle School – Advanced two designations in one year.
- Mason/Clark Middle School – Advanced one designation in one year.
- East St. Louis Senior High School (includes Gordon Bush Alternative Center) – Advanced two designations in one year.
- The district’s 9th grade “graduation on track is 83%, its highest in the last six years, and above the state averages for both Black (80%) and Low-Income (82%) groups. East St. Louis Senior High School and Gordon Bush Alternative Center were scored at 85%.
- East St. Louis School District 189 is outperforming all comparative districts and nearing the state average on Illinois Assessment of Readiness (IAR) math growth, and it is outperforming all comparative districts on IAR reading and math performance.
In addition, the district is “closing gaps in the areas of student learning, learning conditions, and elevating educators,” which represents the measurement of equity in students’ access to opportunities and programming.
ESL 189’s teacher retention rate of 91.3% is higher than the state average of 89.6%, and that rate has increased annually since 2017.
The most recent Illinois Report Card data “verifies the strong, sustained academic growth compared to the historical performance of East St. Louis schools 10+ years ago,” according to a release from the district.
Only 4 of 9 schools achieved the distinction of Commendable in 2018.
“While there are reasons to celebrate, our work continues. We are committed to ensuring that all our schools and student groups achieve Commendable or Exemplary ratings,” said Culver.
Among the areas that ESL 189 must improve is Chronic Absenteeism.
The district’s student chronic absenteeism rate (56.1%) is more than double the state average (26.3 %).
The district has shown improvement since its 2018 chronic absenteeism rate stood at 81.9%.
“With a united approach including parents, families, and the wider community, I am confident that we can tackle the root causes of chronic absenteeism and create lasting change for our students,” said Culver.
As a former educator in the district, I applaud all of the teachers for the impressive job they are doing to educate our children. Also, I highly commend the students for staying focused and achieving the goals that have been set for them. Team work makes the dream work.