Elmhurst D205 Leader Notes Falling SAT Scores

ELMHURST, IL – The head of Elmhurst School District 205 last week acknowledged the drop in York High School's SAT scores.

Superintendent Keisha Campbell did so in an email to Tom Chavez, a resident who has criticized the district's performance.

Recently, the district avoided the bad news in a news release and Campbell's State of the District address. In those forums, the district touted the improved scores in local elementary and middle schools.

This pattern is similar to the one that the district followed in 2022, the last time it dealt with falling SAT results.

In the email, Campbell said the data on SAT scores was "openly shared and discussed" during an Oct. 29 board meeting. That was a day before the state released test data from districts across Illinois.

At the meeting, Assistant Superintendent Kerry Leuschel spoke about the SAT scores. She said the district still had work to do to improve math and English proficiency on the test.

Later, board member Courtenae Trautmann lamented the SAT results. She said the test appears to be a struggle for local students, even though York may have gotten enough points for state purposes.

"That doesn't make us feel great that only 50 percent of our kids are meeting the target," Trautmann said.

Last school year, 51 percent of York juniors met state standards in English language arts, while 49 percent met the mark in math. In 2019, nearly two-thirds of local students met standards in both categories.

In her email, Campbell said the district maintains urgency to increase student growth and achievement.

"(W)e looked at the Junior class of 2023 over time and noted that, though their learning was particularly disrupted during their middle school years, they achieved a 13.5 percentage point increase from 8th to 11th grade proficiency in (English language arts) and a 5.5 percentage point increase in math – though not to the level of their peers in the class of 2024," she said.

In his response to Campbell, Chavez said the district should be open with the public about its test results. And he questioned why Campbell did not share "mission critical" information about SAT scores in her State of the District presentation.

"Isn’t it important for parents with students approaching the end of high school to know that ~50% are not meeting proficiency in math and (English language arts)?" he asked. "Isn't it important for parents to know that SAT scores are dropping?"