Schools

Downers Grove High Schools Rank Among Best in Area, State

Both District 99 schools were recognized by the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times for their performance on the Prairie State Achievement Exam.

Both schools in Downers Grove's Community High School District 99 were among the top-performers in the Chicagoland area and state, according to rankings published last month by the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Sun-Times.

Both newspapers used 2012 Illinois School Report Card data in determining the rankings.

Downers Grove North High School was ranked 23rd in the Chicago area and 24th in the state by the Chicago Sun-Times, down slightly from 2011 when it was ranked 20th in the area and 21st in the state.

Find out what's happening in Downers Grovewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The Chicago Tribune ranked North High 28th among schools in DuPage, Kane, Cook, Lake, Will and McHenry counties.

Downers Grove South High School was ranked 45th in the Chicago area and 57th in the state by the Sun-Times—an improvement from 2011, when the school failed to crack the top 50.

Find out what's happening in Downers Grovewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Both newspapers used 2012 Illinois School Report Card data in ranking the top elementary, middle and high schools in the area. The Sun-Times utilized a statistical method called "standardizing" to analyze the "scale score" of every reading and math score from the Prairie State Achievement Test, which is administered each April to high school juniors.

The Chicago Tribune used each school's combined PSAE test scores. 

Neither Downers Grove high school achieved Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) in math and reading as defined by the No Child Left Behind Act, according to the schools' 2012 Illinois School Report Cards.

Among the conditions for making AYP in 2012 are having at least 95 percent of each student group tested for reading and math, at least 85 percent meeting or exceeding standards in reading and math standards and an 82 percent graduation rate.

At North High, 74.8 of all students met or exceeded standards in reading, and 79.8 percent met or exceeded standards in math. Students with disabilities did achieve the school's "safe harbor" target in reading, with 53.8 percent meeting or exceeding state standards.

North High's graduation rate in 2012 was 93.3 percent.

At South High, 65.1 percent of all students met or exceeded standards in reading. White students achieved the school's safe harbor target with 74.7 percent meeting or exceeding. The meet/exceeds rate fell short in each of the school's subgroups—Black, Hispanic, Asian, students with disabilities and economically disadvantaged.

In math, 74.4 percent of all South High students met or exceeded standards. The school missed safe harbor targets for Black, Hispanic, disabled and ecomonically disadvantaged students.

South High's graduation rate was 89.8 percent.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

There are plenty of ways to keep up on Downers Grove news:

From Darien or Woodridge? We've got you covered:


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here