For the first time since 2021, no District U-46 school has been deemed “comprehensive” or “intensive” in the 2025 Illinois Report Card, a designation that indicates it needs significant improvement.
The newly released results show the district has one top-rated “exemplary” school, Prairieview Elementary in Bartlett, 38 commendable schools and 11 targeted schools.
Matt Raimondi, director of assessment and accountability, reviewed the results at this week’s school board meeting and noted that the review was similar to last year in that one school was designated exemplary, 40 commendable, nine targeted and one comprehensive.
The Illinois Report Card evaluates schools based on a number of factors. Exemplary schools are in the top 10% in the state and commendable are those not in the top 10% but with no underperforming subgroups of students. The targeted label applies to schools that need extra support for one or more groups of students found to be underperforming. Such subgroups can include children with disabilities; a specific race, including Black, Hispanic and Native American; or English as a Second Language learners.
Targeted elementary schools in the 2025 report are Laurel Hill in Bartlett, Channing, McKinley, Highland and Lowrie in Elgin and Hilltop in Streamwood.
Targeted middle schools are Abbott and Larsen in Elgin and Canton and Tefft in Streamwood. The one targeted high school was Larkin in Elgin.
Targeted schools will complete a needs assessment, data from which will help staff draft an improvement plan for the next three years, Raimondi said. Those schools are also are eligible to receive grant funding, he said.
Brian Tennison, assistant superintendent of teaching and learning, told the board that the percentage of students meeting the state’s benchmark for ACT English Language Arts (ELA) was 41.7% compared to 20.9% in 2024, when the state used SAT testing. The score includes skills in English, reading and writing, he said.
In math, 27.8% of students met the benchmark, compared to 14.5% in 2024.
Raimondi said the state will be using ACT tests for three to five years. Tennison said the district will need at least three years of testing data to spot any trends.
During his presentation, Tennison also said the district continues to see a decrease in chronic absenteeism, defined as students who have been absent 10% of the school year or 18 days.
In 2024, 34.9% of students were chronically absent; a year later, the number dropped to 31%, data show. In 2022 and 2023, the absenteeism rate was 38%.
The district’s high school graduation rates for 2024 and 2025 were 87.3%, an increase over previous years, Tennison said.
On another positive note, a record number of 9th graders are on track for high school graduation, he said.
“I am happy to say that we’re at 88.4%, which is the highest we’ve been at, we think in our history, but certainly over the last five years,” he said.
Mike Danahey is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.