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News Release

Contact:Joe King, Mark McGowan, Office of Public Affairs
(815) 753-1681

December 16, 2004

NIU's Interactive Illinois Report Card
turns student performance statistics into powerful tools

DeKalb, Ill. — Knowledge is power, goes the old axiom, but sometimes it takes more than just raw data to make knowledge truly useful.

 

That was the premise of Northern Illinois University researchers who set out to create a tool that could help Illinois school districts tease out meaningful information from the reams of data that make up the annual Illinois School Report Cards, released this week. Their efforts lead to the creation of the Interactive Illinois Report Card.

 

The free online tool, which can be found at http://iirc.niu.edu, offers parents, teachers, administrators and anyone else with an interest in school performance a richly dynamic, interactive and comparative resource that presents a vast array of information on schools and their academic performance in an easily navigated site.

 

The instrument compiles data received from the annual Illinois State Board of Education school report cards with numbers from previous years to provide longitudinal tracking and provides a picture of how Illinois schools are progressing toward compliance with the federal “No Child Left Behind” legislation. It also allows users to break down standardized test score data by demographic subgroups such as gender, ethnicity and income.

 

A key feature of the IIRC is its ability to compare schools head-to-head and side-by-side in any of a variety of categories, including student test performance, per-pupil spending, ethnic and racial diversity, enrollment, teacher qualifications, average salaries and levels of tax support. Data is presented in easy to understand charts and graphs.

 

While that data has long be a useful tool for school administrators looking to track trends, target trouble areas and make improvements, doing so wasn’t always easy.

 

Glen Ellyn School District 41 is just one of many districts around the state that has used the tool to great benefit. Applying its ability to compare data in different ways, the district pinpointed troubles and solved them.

 

“We knew we were having problems with student writing performance, but we were mystified about why the test scores had dropped so quickly,” says Patty Corwin, a quality specialist with Glen Ellyn School District 41. “By looking at the details of the IIRC report we immediately realized where our writing curriculum had become misaligned. We fixed the problem, and within one year, we went from 43 percent of our kids meeting or exceeding federal standards in writing to 83 percent. Our teachers were happy, our parents were happy and our kids were proud of themselves for turning a problem into a triumph. And the IIRC made all of those things possible.”

 

This year the district has trained all of its curricular specialists in the use of the tool.

 

“It allows them to look at data in their areas much more specifically,” says John Correll, assistant superintendent for teaching, learning and accountability in District 41. “People are very excited about it.”

 

Last year, more than 300 districts statewide many of them employing confidential passwords to access test data on specific students – a function not available to the general public.

 

“In the current climate of accountability, data-driven decision making is an important part of any program of curricular planning, targeted instruction or school improvement,” says Harvey Smith, director of the IIRC project.

 

“If this site contributes to helping to improve Illinois education where it really happens – in schools and classrooms all across the state – then we’ve accomplished our main goal.”

 

In addition to providing data on Illinois schools, the IIRC is also a rich resource for links to information on standardized tests, state education standards, accountability standards and much more.

 

NIU works in partnership with the Illinois State Board of Education, which has funded the IIRC through a grant.

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