Big Drop In Elmhurst 8th Grade Outcomes In 2021

ELMHURST, IL – During remote learning, the big fear in Elmhurst School District 205 and elsewhere was "learning loss."

As it turns out, the lack of in-person learning may have hurt eighth graders' test scores.

The results in spring 2021 show that Elmhurst eighth graders' saw a bigger plunge in their scores in both English language arts and math than their counterparts statewide.

All the numbers are on the Illinois Report Card website.

High-income districts like Elmhurst's nearly always score higher than statewide averages.

In 2021, 43.5 percent of Elmhurst's eighth graders met expectations in the math section of the Illinois Assessment of Readiness. That was down from 55.2 percent in 2019. No data is available from 2020, the first year of the pandemic.

Statewide, 26.1 percent of eighth graders met expectations in math on the assessment in 2021, compared with 32.6 percent in 2019.

In English language arts, 37.1 percent of Elmhurst's eighth graders met expectations in English language arts in 2021, down from 49.5 percent two years earlier.

Throughout Illinois, 34.1 percent met expectations in English language arts in 2021, a drop from 39.6 percent in 2019.

Even before the pandemic, Elmhurst saw a significant decrease in eighth-graders meeting expectations in English language arts. The rate was 63.2 percent in 2015, dropping to 49.5 percent by 2019. Math scores were relatively stable before the pandemic.

In response to an inquiry, Tonya Daniels, the district's spokeswoman, said in an email that student outcomes on the Illinois Assessment of Readiness from 2021-22 would be presented at a fall school board meeting.

Daniels said the 2021-22 data is not available publicly on the Illinois Report Card. But she said a preliminary analysis shows the percentage of students meeting expectations is anticipated to rise from 2020-21 to 2021-22 in English language arts and math.

School officials worried about learning loss in early 2021, as reported in a Patch story.

English language arts

Here are the percentages of students meeting expectations on the English language arts portion of the Illinois Assessment of Readiness:

Math

Here are the percentages of students meeting expectations on the math portion of the Illinois Assessment of Readiness: