Will County education: Is your child’s school making the grade?

Students’ “chronic absenteeism” is a concern in Illinois schools, and Will County is no exception.

To address this concern, Shawn Walsh, regional superintendent of the Will County Regional Office of Education, said the regional office has hired additional truancy officers. These officers go into the school districts and work on ways to get students who are chronically absent back into the system, Walsh said.

Chronic absenteeism differs from chronic truancy, Walsh said. Chronic truancy is when a student misses 5% of school days without legitimate cause. Chronic absenteeism is missing 10%, even if the reason is legitimate, Walsh said.

Solving the problem is multifaceted, since reasons for missing school are “as wide as the ocean,” Walsh said. But missing school for legitimate reasons still is concerning.

“If you’re not in school, you’re not learning,” Walsh said.

Walsh said he is pleased that 16 Will County schools received exemplary status.

According to a news release from Plainfield School District 202, schools are assigned one of four designations based on performance.

Designations are “exemplary” (highest-performing 10% of schools), “comprehensive” (lowest-performing 5% of schools), “targeted” (schools overall above the lowest 5% but with “one or more student subgroups” that is “on par with the lowest-performing 5%), and “commendable” (all other schools), District 202 said.

Five of District 202′s 31 schools earned exemplary status and 24 earned commendable status, District 202 said.

Lincoln-Way School District 210

Renae C. Goldie, director of curriculum for Lincoln-Way School District 210, said all three District 210 high schools earned an exemplary rating. All three high schools also had SAT scores above the state average.

“We’re extremely proud of our results,” Goldie said. “We think they’re very representative of what we see from our students and staff every day.”

Goldie said she feels the COVID-19 pandemic helped narrow District 210′s achievement gaps since “the pandemic affected all of the kids.”

District 210 addressed gaps by ensuring teachers knew how to work with those students through professional development activities, Goldie said.

The district also stressed the availability of practice tests, letting students know “we think you should come.”

“And they did and took advantage of it,” Goldie said.

Joliet Public Schools District 86

Theresa Rouse, superintendent of Joliet Public Schools District 86, said none of the data took her by surprise because “we really know and study our data through the year,” Rouse said.

Most of District 86 schools earned a commendable rating. One earned a targeted rating, and Eisenhower Academy was rated exemplary, according to the Illinois state report card.

But Rouse also said she was happy the report card measured students’ growth as well as proficiency, especially since students were “coming out of COVID.”

“The proficiency side of it is hard as we work to bring our students forward with their skills every year,” Rouse said. “We have challenges, and we recognize the fact we have a lot of room to grow.

Ankhe Bradley, assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction at District 86, said the district continues investing in quality instructional materials so students have the optimal resources for continued growth and proficiency.

District 86 also has bilingual ELA and math coaches to support the classroom teachers to ensure “students’ grow each and every day,” Bradley said.

Rouse said District 86 has a strong English language program for its bilingual students and that District 86 may offer English language classes to the students’ parents, too.

District 86 also is addressing chronic absenteeism and other social-emotional needs through supportive programming to families and stressing the message that students “need to be in school every day,” Rouse said.

“We’re already seeing some improvement in this regard,” Rouse said.

Valley View School District 365U

Rachel Kinder, superintendent of schools at Valley View School District 365U, said it’s impossible for school districts to “sugarcoat or hide” the fact students were significantly affected, both academically and socio-emotionally, over the past couple of years.

Kinder said the drop in math was not unexpected, especially since other school districts in Illinois also saw drops, and because students had missed “solid instructional practices” in the classrooms.

She said Valley View is addressing gaps in math with curriculum adjustments, summer programs and other supportive resources. The district also is working on lowering its chronic absenteeism percentage, especially since the rate last year reached “an all-time high,” she said.

In addition to “keeping the lines of communication open with parents,” Valley View works to connect parents with a variety of resources and community partners – including mental and behavioral health services – to reduce absenteeism among the students, Kinder said.

Kinder said students face many barriers in transitioning to “normal school day instruction” so Valley View is providing “a great deal of support.” Valley View’s “bright spot” is its ELA program, she said.

“Our kids continue to grow at a rate higher than we saw across the state,” Kinder said.

Lockport Township High School District 205

Bob McBride, superintendent of Lockport Township High School District 205, was pleased with the district’s high ratings in many areas: graduation rate (93%), freshmen on track to graduate (97%), students taking dual credit classes, and college enrollment and retention, he said.

But where District 205 is working to improve is the area of reading text related to science and social students and drawing inferences and conclusions, which the district learned from the analysis it receives from the SAT, McBride said.

To improve those areas, students are encouraged, when possible, to take three years of science, with one of those classes being chemistry, he said.

District 205 also has added Math Plus and Science Plus programs. When a student is struggling with a concept in math or science, they move into this program while continuing to take their other classes, McBride said.

McBride encouraged people to view the state report cards for schools themselves. He said the state report cards give credible information on a wide range of topics, including student growth, district spending and teacher retention.

“It’s an excellent site,” McBride said. “So use it.”

For more information, visit illinoisreportcard.com.