West Cook News

Students in the Norridge Schools district showed some good results when it comes to standardized tests that the schools use to mark progress, but educators aren't sitting on their laurels.

Superintendent Michele Guzik provided an initial take on the results of the Illinois Assessment of Readiness (IAR) and English Language arts (ELA) tests at the Nov. 15 school board meeting.

On the positive side, “Giles ended up being exemplary in their growth, which means that they don't have any underperforming groups, and they are in the top 10% in the state,” Guzik said at the meeting, a stream of which was posted on YouTube. While she calls that "something to celebrate," she added that, "It does not mean that our work is done. We have a lot of work.”

In her presentation, Guzik reminded the board that they would be comparing the 2022 data to 2019, as that was the last set of consistent, pre-pandemic data. For ELA the district is slightly higher in 2022 than in 2019, however in math they have decreased in proficiency since 2019. 

Measuring by grade, elementary students in grades three and four showed decreased growth since 2019, however some of the higher grades show increased growth in one or more areas.

Overall, 51% of students in the district met or exceeded standards for ELA tests and 34% of students in the district met or exceeded standards for math on the IAR.

Compared to some of the other districts in the state, Norridge was near the top for their comparative ELA growth, but the district was falling toward the bottom when it comes to comparative math growth. 

Leigh was designated as commendable, which means it is not in the top 10% of districts but the students don’t have any underperforming growth. Giles was designated as exemplary as the results put the district in the top 10% of schools across the state.