Last week, the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) released the 2014-2015 version of the Illinois Report Card. This online, interactive version of the report card was launched last year and provides significantly more information for parents about their child’s school than the old paper report card you might have seen a few years ago. Here’s how to navigate the report card and use the information about your child’s school.

Getting Started

When you go to IllinoisReportCard.com, there’s an easy to use way to locate your child’s school or district. You can either start by typing the school or district name into the top search box, or you can type in your home address in the lower search box and get a map and list of all the schools within a radius of one to 20 miles. If your child’s school has a common name (e.g., Edison, Lincoln, Washington, etc.), you may find it easier to use the address search rather than the name search.

You can also navigate the Illinois Report Card in Spanish by clicking on the Español button on the top menu bar. You’ll also find a short video on the new report card on the start page, as well as overview information on the state as a whole (e.g., over 2,000,000 students, 54% low-income students, etc.).

Your Child’s School Report Card

When you go to the report card for your child’s school, you land on an overview page that includes the school address, the names of the school principal and district superintendent, a map showing the school’s and the district’s location, and some fast facts about the school. These facts will vary depending on the school, with high schools including information on graduation rate and college readiness (based on the ACT) that don’t apply to elementary and middle schools. Each of the boxes in the fast facts section can be clicked on to drill down into the data behind the summary.

Across the top of the screen is a menu bar that lets you explore the information on your child’s school in depth. The options are Snapshot, Academic Progress, School Environment, Students, Educators, and Highlights. Like the fast facts boxes, what’s listed under each of these menu choices will vary depending on the type of school your child attends.

Academic Progress

Under academic progress, you’ll find information on how your child’s school did regarding the state assessments (PARCC this past year, ISAT/PSAE in previous years). The PARCC data for districts, schools, and students has not been released yet, as the first year using the PARCC assessment required setting threshold levels for how raw scores translate into meeting the New Illinois Learning Standards. These results should be released in either late November or sometime in December.

Depending on the grade levels in the school, you can find information about academic growth, the achievement gap (under subgroup comparisons), the percent of freshmen on track to graduate, the graduation rate, college and career readiness, and post-secondary enrollment. If you aren’t sure what a specific measure means or what a graph is reporting, you can hover your mouse pointer over the question mark in the yellow circle above the graph and have a definition pop up. At the bottom of the page is a box with three tabs providing an explanation of the information being displayed, its context, and resource links to additional information on the topic.

You can drill down further into some of the data. For example, if you want to look at the achievement gap in more detail, you can choose the Advanced Comparisons option under Subgroup Comparisons. You can then use the buttons and checkboxes on the right side of the screen to see how students in a specific grade did overall or in specific subjects. You can also compare not just how black students performed relative to white students (the common achievement gap measure), but also see how Hispanic or Asian students did, or compare low-income students with non-low-income students, or male students to female students.

School Environment

The school environment page covers information from the 5Essentials Survey, financial information, class size, school days, attendance, chronically truant students, dropout rate (high schools), and student mobility. Health and wellness information will be available in the future once sufficient data has been collected to report.

The 5Essentials survey information summarizes the results from students, teachers, and parents provided at least 50 percent of a category participated in the survey. The survey measures schools on five categories:

  • Effective Leaders
  • Collaborative Teachers
  • Supportive Environment
  • Involved Families
  • Ambitious Instruction

The 5Essentials survey is based on the results of research showing that schools that are strong in these five categories are ten times more likely to improve student learning than schools weak in the five essentials. You can click on the link below the graphic summary to dig into the report categories and individual questions and responses. Clicking on the Resources tab in the box at the bottom of the page provides links to additional information on the 5Essentials survey.

Students

The students section provides information on the school’s demographics, including enrollment, racial/ethnic diversity, and the percentage of students who are low-income, have disabilities, are homeless, or are English Language Learners. You can use the checkbox on the right side of the screen to show the 5-year trend for all of this information.

Educators

In the educators section, you’ll find information on the teachers and administrators in your district. The majority of the information is at the school district level, including teacher demographics, education level, and salary. Teacher retention and principal turnover are reported on an individual school basis.

Highlights

The highlights section provides additional information on what is available at your child’s school. These include things such as:

  • Academic Courses (Advance Placement and Dual Credit courses (high schools), Fine and Applied Arts courses, and Foreign Language courses)
  • PE and Health courses, programs and facilities
  • Career Development courses and programs (high schools)
  • Athletics
  • Other Programs and Activities (PTA, before and after school care, clubs and programs)
  • Awards the school has won (by faculty and staff, scholastic awards, athletic awards, and community awards)
  • School Personnel Resources (school social worker, special education teachers, librarians, etc.)
  • School Facilities (specialty rooms or spaces)

This information is all self-reported by your school’s principal.

Comparing Schools

At the top right side of the school page is a blue button that allows you to compare your child’s school to up to three other schools anywhere in the state. You can use the “Search By” button on the comparison page to narrow the list of schools you’re looking through for comparisons to a grade, a specific school district, or within a certain distance from an address. This information can be especially helpful for parents needing to choose a school or who are moving to an area and want to compare the schools there. The comparison includes the fast facts and highlights for the chosen schools, academic progress (once the PARCC scores are released), and the school demographics.

Looking at Your School District

Next to the name of your child’s school is a link to the report card for your school district. Much of the data reported for your child’s school is collected here for your school district as a whole. Instead of a highlights page, there is a page listing all the schools in the district and linking to their individual report cards.

The district finances page can be enlightening, as it breaks down your school district’s funding from local, state, and federal sources and compares them to the state averages. You can also see where the money is spent under Expenditure Percentages and Expenditure Amounts. Clicking the View Details checkbox on the right side of the page provides a more detailed breakdown of revenue and expenses. You can also see the five-year and ten-year trends for all of this information as well. As the state legislature continues to discuss budget items, property tax freezes, and changing the school funding formula, be sure to keep this information in mind when considering what those changes may mean for your child’s school.