Pandemic Takes Tolls on Schools

Report card reflects impact COVID has had on districts!

By Bob Bong and Peter Hancock

One year after COVID-19 scrambled the state’s public school system with schools alternating between in-person and remote learning because of uncertainty caused by the pandemic, the Illinois State Board of Education has released its school report card for public schools.

The report card, issued every fall, gives parents a look at how well their child’s district is doing, especially compared to the state’s average, in a number of areas.

The report cards explain how many teachers each district has, their class sizes, how much they make, how their students did on tests, and how many students attend each district.

The pandemic resulted in significant drops in enrollment, academic performance, and the likelihood of graduating from high school on time.

The report also shows a disturbing increase in chronic absenteeism since the pandemic began. More than one-in-five students, or 22.8 percent, missed 10 percent or more of all school days in the year. That’s up from 13.4 percent in 2019, the most recent full pre-pandemic year.

But the report also showed that more Illinois students than ever are preparing for college and careers by taking dual credit, Advanced Placement, and career and technical education, or CTE courses, while schools themselves are doing a better job of retaining veteran teachers.

“We have witnessed both tragedy and heroism in our schools during the past year,” State Superintendent of Education Dr. Carmen I. Ayala said in a statement. “Students and educators have lost so much and lived and learned through unthinkable obstacles, but loss is not the whole story. Illinois’ schools also stepped up the rigor of high school course work, ensured students still graduated, and earned early college credit along the way.”

In our coverage area, Peotone District 207-U serves five schools with a combined enrollment of 1,266. That includes 83 percent white students, 12 percent Hispanic students, and 1.4 percent black students. The district spends $14,000 per student. The absentee rate was 34 percent, well above the state average. Approximately 23 percent of students receive some kind of public aid.

The district employs 101 teachers, who make an average salary of $47,440 per year. The teacher-to-student ratio is 15-1.

The graduation rate at Peotone High School was 79 percent, slightly less than the state average of 86 percent. The high school drop-out rate was 2.3 percent. Last year, SAT scores were 32 for English and 24 for math.

No data was available for the Illinois Assessment of Readiness at the elementary schools.

Manteno Community Unit School District 5 operates three schools and has a combined enrollment of 1,858. Students are 84 percent white, nine percent Hispanic and 1.6 percent black. The district spends $12,000 per student. Its absenteeism rate was 24 percent. Nearly 31 percent of students receive some kind of public aid. There are 135 teachers for a student-teacher ratio of 16-1. Teachers earn on average $46,514 per year.

The graduation rate at Manteno High School was 95 percent, and its drop-out rate was 1.9 percent. SAT scores were 23 for English and 25 for math.

The IAR scores were 37 for English and 27 for math.

Crete-Monee District 201-U operates eight schools and had an enrollment of 4,325, with 17.5 percent being white, 16 percent Hispanic, and 60 percent black. The district spends $16,000 per student. Its absentee rate was 29 percent. Seventy percent of students receive some kind of public aid. There are 310 teachers, who earn on average $62,994 per year. The student-teacher ratio is 16-1.

At Crete-Monee High School, the graduation rate was 90 percent, and the drop-out rate was 1.5 percent. SAT scores were 14 for English and nine for math.

IAR scores were 13 for English and seven for math.

Beecher District 200-U operates three schools. The combined enrollment is 1,045. The student body is 73 percent white, 21.5 percent Hispanic, and 2.4 percent black. The district spends $13,000 per student. Its absentee rate was five percent. Almost a quarter of students (23.3 percent) received some kind of public aid. The district has 71 teachers, for a teacher-student ratio of 17-1. Teachers earn an average of $65,836 per year.

At Beecher High School, the graduation rate was 94 percent. Its drop-out rate was 2.2 percent. SAT scores were 35 for English and 18 for math.

At the grade schools, the IAR was 37 for English and 15 for math.

According to the state, the increase in absenteeism was especially notable among English learners, Black and Hispanic students.

Officials cautioned, however, the 2021 figures might not be reliable because of the number of students who were engaged in remote learning, where taking accurate attendance counts may be more challenging.

“We know from national studies from the (U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) that school districts serving primarily Black and Hispanic students provided the least access to in-person learning last year,” Brenda Dixon, ISBE’s research and evaluation officer, said during a briefing on the report. “We suspect less access to in-person learning contributed to lower engagement among Black and Hispanic students.”

The report card also showed declines in student performance on standardized tests, although those numbers are still preliminary, because schools were given the option of administering those tests this fall due to the number of buildings that still were not fully open in the spring. Full results will be published next spring.

“The Illinois State Board of Education is encouraging schools to watch this cohort closely and to utilize federal pandemic relief funds for research-based interventions, especially for current ninth- and 10^th-graders, who are not on track for graduation,” Ayala said during the briefing. “We also are launching a $25 million high-impact tutoring program early this coming year to provide these types of individualized services to students across the education continuum.” 

Ayala also noted Illinois has received nearly $8 billion in federal pandemic relief funding to address the gaps that resulted from remote learning. Ninety percent of that money was paid directly to school districts that will decide locally how to spend it, but ISBE has earmarked the remaining 10 percent for things such as bolstering special education services, closing the digital divide, and mental health services for students and educators. 

The state’s overall teacher retention rate – the three-year average of the percentage of full-time teachers returning to the same school from the previous year – also rose more than a percentage point, to 87.1 percent, although retention rate was lower among Black teachers. 

Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service covering state government and distributed to more than 400 newspapers statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.