Income Divide: How Burr Ridge Schools Performed

BURR RIDGE, IL – Historically, schools with few low-income students perform better on standardized tests. Burr Ridge is no exception.

According to the Illinois Report Card website, 12 percent of students at both Gower 62 and Pleasantdale 107 are considered low-income.

In both districts, about 60 percent of students met standards on the English language arts section of the Illinois Assessment of Readiness in 2022. In math, 54 percent of students met standards in Gower, while 61 percent did so in Pleasantdale.

By contrast, Burr Ridge 180, where nearly 90 percent of students are low-income, 16 percent met or exceeded standards in English language arts and math.

Of nearby districts, Western Springs 101 and Hinsdale 181 scored the highest on the assessment – about 70 percent in both sections. Western Springs reported having no low-income students, while Hinsdale had 2 percent.

Statewide, 30 percent of students met standards in English language arts and 26 percent in math. Nearly half of students in Illinois come from low-income families.

Here are the percentages of students meeting standards on the Illinois Assessment of Readiness, as well as the rate of low-income students in each district:

Source: Illinois Report Card