Incoming Kindergartners Less Literate Every Year: District 65

EVANSTON, IL — The percentage of students who enter Evanston public schools ready for kindergarten continues to decline, while the gap in levels of college readiness between demographic groups remains significant, according to the latest Evanston/Skokie District 65 accountability report.

The report, presented to the school board Monday, breaks down the results of the Measures of Academic Progress, a standardized test administered to students in second through eighth grades three times a year, according to the district website.

In the 2018-19 school year, 56 percent of students met English language growth targets, down from 59 percent the prior year. The percentage who met math targets fell more dramatically, dropping from 64 percent to 55 percent, according to a memo summarizing the report from Kylie Klein, the district's director of research, accountability and data.

The data showed gaps by race and demographics when it comes to measurements of expected academic improvement and college readiness benchmarks in both math and English language arts testing.

For Asian students: 66 percent made expected gains in English and 59 percent in math.

For white students: 58 percent made expected gains in English and 59 percent in math.

For Latino students: 57 percent of Latino students made expected gains in English and 53 percent in math.

For black students: 51 percent made expected gains in English and 48 percent in math.

The overall percentage of District 65 students meeting college readiness standards has remained generally stable in both English and math — 61 percent exceed readiness standards in English and 55 percent in math — according to the data. But the demographic gaps remain significant.

While 83 percent of white students and 74 percent of multiracial students met or exceeded college readiness benchmarks in English, just 38 percent of Latino students and 33 percent of black students did so. In Math, 21 percent of black students met or exceeded the benchmarks, compared to 34 percent of Latino students, 71 percent of Asian students and 78 percent of white students, according to the report.

The report also found levels of kindergarten readiness among students in the district have fallen from 60 percent in 2016-17 to 49 percent in 2018-19.

The skills are measured by the state using the Illinois Snapshot of Earlier Literacy, or ISEL, which evaluates basic literacy among children in second grade and younger.

The report continues a trend from earlier in the decade. The district's accountability report from four years ago also shows a decline in the levels of literacy among incoming students when measured by the ISEL.

The district has posted past accountability reports on its website going back to 2012.

A new addition to this year's report are profiles for each district campus, showing breakdowns of school-level data: Bessie Rhodes, Chute, Dawes, Dewey, Haven, King Arts, Kingsley, Lincoln, Lincolnwood, Nichols, Oakton, Orrington, Walker, Washington, Willard.

Board members called for more detailed data about students who begin below benchmarks for college readiness, more detailed breakdowns of the race and socio-economic status of students and how to apply to the findings of the accountability report to individual district schools, according to the Daily Northwestern.

Last month, the board approved the appointment of Devon Horton as its new superintendent. The former Chicago Public Schools teacher was most recently the chief of a Louisville, Kentucky, school district.

A community meeting with Horton has been scheduled for 5:30 to 7 p.m. on Jan. 29 at the J.E.H. Education Center at 1500 McDaniel Ave.

The District 65 board is next scheduled to convene at a joint meeting with the Evanston Township High School District 202 board on Feb. 24.

Read: District 65 Achievement and Accountability Report for 2018-19