New Trier Aces PARCC Despite Low Numbers

WINNETKA, IL - Freshmen at New Trier High School who took the Partnership for Assessment and Readiness for College and Careers exam earlier this year well outperformed the state average, although more than half of the school’s freshmen opted not to take the test at all.

The PARCC results are reported in five categories: did not meet expectations; partially met expectations; approached expectations; met expectations; and exceeded expectations. Of the New Trier freshmen who participated in the exam, 77.1 percent were in the met and exceeded categories in English (compared to 34.7 percent statewide), and 41.4 percent were in the met and exceeded categories in math (compared to 18.7 percent statewide). Another 17 percent were in the approached expectations category in English, and 30.5 percent in math.

The numbers could have been higher had more students opted to take the exam, which was only open to freshmen at New Trier in its opening year as the replacement for the Prairie State Achievement Exam at the high school level.

Only 46 percent of freshmen took the English test, and only 30 percent of freshman Algebra I students took the Algebra I test. According to a school news release, district officials believe that families did not see the value in a test that does not offer students feedback on how to perform better and will not affect their grades or college admissions.

All freshmen take English, but only about 40 percent of ninth graders are enrolled in Algebra I, with the rest being enrolled in the more advanced math classes of Geometry and Algebra II/Trig.

“Without context, the PARCC scores released statewide appear to show that very few Illinois students are prepared for college and careers,” said New Trier Superintendent Linda Yonke. “Our students, 98 percent of whom attend college and do very well there, routinely perform among the top in the country on the ACT and other high-stakes tests. Last spring’s PARCC test was only implemented at the ninth grade level and only in the subjects of English and Algebra I. Assessing students’ college readiness with scores from this test is invalid. This baseline year of PARCC results cannot be used to judge the performance of any school.”