NIU’s Interactive Illinois Report Card brings
public school performance, analysis to computer desktops
Web-based report card tool allows
head-to-head, side-by-side school comparisons
 Parents, teachers, school administrators and anyone interested in the state of public education in Illinois can begin to better understand school performance through the Interactive Illinois Report Card, a Web-based tool created and maintained by NIU.
The IIRC – http://iirc.niu.edu – is 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 site goes online Friday.
The online 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, for the first year, provides a picture of how Illinois schools are progressing toward compliance with the federal “No Child Left Behind” legislation.
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.
The site allows users to choose their own schools for comparison and, eventually, it will offer a list of “similar schools” based on a more extensive analysis of their characteristics.
“School-to-school comparisons are a very powerful way to permit teachers and parents to identify exemplary schools and see what they’re doing right. Schools not doing so well also can benefit by identifying particular weaknesses they need to address,” said Harvey Smith, who leads the IIRC project.
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