State Designates District 99 Schools as “Commendable” (2019)

State Designates District 99 Schools as “Commendable”

On October 30, 2019, the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) released its annual School Report Card, which designates both North High School and South High School as “Commendable.” This is the second highest designation.  

With its new support and accountability system, ISBE now evaluates high schools on ten measures of progress in addition to test scores. Measures of academic performance and growth (including graduation rates, proficiency in English and math, and English Learner Progress) account for 75% of a school’s success. Additional measures of quality and student success (including absenteeism and 9th-graders on track to graduate) account for 25% of a school’s success. Click here for more details.

“At District 99, we are proud that North High and South High are both highly rated schools in the state,” says Superintendent Dr. Hank Thiele. “We are always seeking ways to improve our performance and reach even higher levels of student achievement.” 

ISBE has restructured how a school’s success is measured, in alignment with the new federal “Every Student Succeeds Act” accountability system. ISBE now rates schools by one of four designations: Exemplary, Commendable, Underperforming and Lowest-Performing. According to ISBE, the designations describe how well schools are performing to meet the needs of all students. The “Exemplary” designation is awarded to the top 10% performing schools, while the “Lowest-Performing” designation represents the lowest-performing 5% of schools. See more details about the designations.

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