Lake Bluff Students Post High PARCC Scores

Students in Lake Bluff Elementary School District 65 who took the PARCC assessment earlier this year performed much better than the state average as a whole.

Graded on a five-point scale, a score of four or five on the PARCC means the student is on track to meet or exceed college and career readiness benchmarks. Almost 75 percent of the Lake Bluff students scored either a four or five on the English portion of the exam, which about 70 percent achieved those marks in math.

By comparison, just 35 percent of students in Illinois scored at the same levels in English, and only 27 percent in math.

“We know that our students took the exam very seriously and that they were well prepared,” said Dr. Kevin Rubenstein, the district’s director of student services. “We will use the results of these assessments to improve student learning and our curricular programs.”

The scores represent a new “baseline” for measuring student learning, District 65 Superintendent Dr. Jean Sophie said.

“During the first year of any assessment, we expected that fewer students would perform at the highest levels and yet, we know that this does not mean that our students are learning any less or that fewer students are prepared to meet the rigorous academic challenges of our programs.”

Parents and families in the district will be receiving the results from the assessments in the coming weeks.