Dozens of pages of standardized test data presented to the District 202 Board of Education this week re-enforced a painful academic reality.
Black and Hispanic students at Evanston Township High School remain behind their white peers, despite years of effort to close the gap.
Board member Leah Piekarz called the school report card numbers “pretty alarming,” and said a “sense of urgency” is needed to help students of color perform better.
Of course, there is more to academic achievement than what’s measured on a standardized test.
But, for better or for worse, that’s how students (and schools) are often evaluated.
ETHS is rated “commendable” on its state report card, the second-best of four possible categories. And ETHS students as a whole exceed the statewide average in basically all academic categories.
“But,” said Piekarz, “when you break it down by race, ethnicity, IEP [special education], and free and reduced-price lunch [family income],” the racial and financial differences become clear.
For example, in last year’s entire freshman class, according to the D202 Year in Review report, 89.1% of students were on track to graduate. That’s better than the statewide rate of 87.4%.
But while white students at ETHS scored notably better than the state average, Hispanic and Asian students and low-income students here scored below the state average for their groups.
Black students at ETHS, while they lagged white students in the on-track-for-graduation metric, performed slightly better than the statewide average for their racial group.
Board member Gretchen Livingston said one reason for the gap in high school may well be that the gap for students wasn’t resolved in elementary or middle school.
“What they’re coming in the door with is what they got from District 65,” she said.
Board vice-president Monique Parsons, who has been wrestling with the achievement gap since joining the board in 2015, said “our Black students are, for lack of a better word, and I hate using this word, but they are at the bottom, and they are being out-performed constantly.
“It’s not good,” Parsons said. “We’re always chasing this and trying to figure it out.”
There are a variety of socioeconomic reasons for the achievement gap, many of which are outside of the school system’s control.
But once inside the school, feeling comfortable and having a sense of fitting in are important for an adolescent.
ETHS data showed that 56% of students overall felt a “sense of belonging” at the high school. But by race, it was 62% white, and 49% black.
“We have a very large building,” noted board member Gretchen Livingston. “It’s very easy for students to get lost in the mix.”
Survey results on social/emotional well-being may be impacted by how students feel at the time of the survey, not necessarily how they feel all the time, according to administrators.
The “well-being” survey was given in cold, dark, depressing February.
Another survey, with somewhat differently worded questions the following month, found that 93% of all students felt that teachers make them feel welcome at ETHS. (A racial breakdown was not available for that survey).
But other areas show the gap as well.
For example, 92% of white and Asian students took at least one Advanced Placement class or other higher-level course last year. It was 70% for Hispanic/Latino students, and 50% for Black students.
“Evanston is one of the best districts for white students,” said Board President Pat Savage-Williams. It was true eight years ago and it’s true now.”
“There is a predictability of academic performance according to race,” Savage-Williams added. “This is the work we have to do.”
Livingston recalled that a dozen years ago, some white parents felt the ETHS curriculum was being watered down, to the detriment of their children.
But Livingston said that years of test scores and course offerings show that was not the case.
“Relax, white parents,” she said.
One bright note, according to Assistant Superintendent Pet Bavis: While Black and Hispanic students still generally score below white students on AP exams, the students of color are showing higher results than in previous years.
As for total ETHS enrollment, percentage of Black students this school year (24.1%) is lower than before the COVID-19 pandemic (25.9% in 2019-20). Hispanic/Latino has increased from 18.8% to 20.2%, and white has dropped from 45.8% to 44.4%
The biggest increase, comparing 2019-20 to 2023-24, is for students identifying as being “two or more” races … going from 3.4% to 6.4%, almost doubling, although the actual raw numbers are still fairly now.
Overall, the number of students at ETHS has remained fairly constant since before COVID, 3,693 in 2019-20 and 3,593 this year (down 2.7%).
Enrollment did go up in the intervening years, but Superintendent Marcus Campbell said that was an expected bump, and the latest total reflects what is generally normal.
“We are exactly where we are supposed to be,” Campell noted.
While ETHS is showing only a slight decline, its elementary/middle school feeder, District 65, has been on a downward enrollment trajectory for years, dropping 20% since 2018. One question for the future … will the D65 decrease ultimately ripple through the high school with fewer children enrolling? Stay tuned.
Of course, the key for educators is not simply to point out the numbers, but to come up with a way for all students to improve, while at the same time closing the racial achievement gap.
Superintendent Campbell said the administration has a number of plans that are being vetted.
“It’s not the same old stuff we’ve been doing,” Campbell said.
“We’ve got some stuff coming that’s pretty big.”
“Pete Bavis recalled that…some white parents felt the ETHS curriculum was being watered down….Relax, white parents.”
Mr Bavis should ask current college kids and their parents whether ETHS prepared them for the academic rigors of selective colleges. Perhaps he’ll learn why those people are not relaxed.
Many parents (like myself) are fully supportive of leveling the playing field, creating equity, & ensuring that the kids slipping through the cracks at ETHS get guidance and academic help. However, when Dr. Campbell, Pete Bavis, etc, insist that kids get a rigorous and competitive education at ETHS and then point out that it ranks high in US News and World Report (which in and of itself, is a questionable ranking system), I have to laugh. Try discussing ETHS’s alleged “fabulous reputation” with college counselors not affiliated with ETHS & other educators outside of the bubble of self-congratulatory ETHS board and staff. You’ll hear a different narrative. Again, almost everyone agrees that equity and a level playing field is GOOD. But you know what is not good? An inflated grading system and grading on a ridiculous curve. Being allowed to correct your test answers and re-submit your test for a revised letter grade. Having minimal accountability for missed homework or behavior issues or a mountain of absences. The time spent ‘navel gazing’ & celebrating mediocrity throughout Evanston is epic, and ETHS is no exception. Yes, there is much to be proud of. But it’s okay to point out the red flags. The administration doesn’t like to talk about the number of ETHS grads who struggle their first year of college. Not just because of normal stuff like being homesick, but they struggle academically, and maybe that is because they are accustomed to turning in revised answers on a test to improve your grade, or finding out that 70% is not a C- but often a D. It can come as quite a rude awakening to find out that not everything in life is easy. But at ETHS, it seems one of the goals is to make it as easy as possible so that mediocrity is mistaken for brilliance. And that’s a recipe for failure.
The board should focus more on comparing how students do relative to the rest of the state, or country rather than how racial groups in Evanston do relative to each other. The world they are preparing for is bigger than Evanston.
By all means, explore strategies to improve academic performance for groups which persistently lag in scores, but don’t ignore the bigger picture. I took a look at the Achievement gap section of the report and saw that BOTH White and Black students have had their SAT rankings drop since 2018. On average, Black students score low, and I agree it is something to work on, but only focusing on how they do relative to White students in the district is not good.
“What they’re coming in the door with is what they got in District 65,” says Livingston. You don’t say???! Curriculum failure after curriculum failure in D65 (whoever is in charge should be fired!), wild spending by D65 admin, inability to address root causes for not meeting grade level expectations in D65, a lack of accountability for D65 administration for these failures in addition to causing an atmosphere/work environment of distrust and disconnect with the teachers, building staff and parents/caregivers — all point to one solution: a hybrid merger of the two districts. There needs to be one district that covers the entirety of Evanston kids’ education. Trim (significantly) administration costs, figure out the union issues, set goals and expectations (done by one board/admin) for kids in pre-K, elementary school & high school, institute true accountability (admin jobs shouldn’t be for life!) and transparency on progress related to goals/expectations with the public — to make sure that our kids are as ready as possible for high school and beyond. Evanston kids deserve better and what’s happening right now isn’t working. MERGE THE DISTRICTS and let’s get our act together, Evanston!
Who can disagree with any of the 4 comments above? Unfortunately, Evanston voters continue to re-elect the same board members, elect new board members with the same agendas as before and expect this same leadership to produce different results. Insanity. I would support any of these writers running to replace the current board. Until we do that we will get the same results.
Many ETHS insiders (staff, admin) refuse to acknowledge that outside of the bubble, the school is not considered rigorous and only mildly competitive. All parents (regardless of race) have 2 choices, 1. adjust their expectations or 2. vote differently. The trend has been to just keep heads buried in the sand and ‘hope’ the situation will improve. Does anyone in admin. actually take a good hard look at current college acceptance statistics for ETHS students? I doubt it.
I am furious over Livingston’s comment, “Relax, white parents,” how crass. I know too many families who in the last 2 years had their ETHS graduates come home from schools or drop out because because ETHS did not prepare them for post high school adequately. Maybe ETHS should follow up on how many graduates go on to finish 4 year degrees, associate programs, or trade schools. Looking at colleges now with our daughter, who is at ETHS, ETHS is certainly getting a reputation of inflated grades, unprepared graduates and students who can’t handle the rigor of college. We have heard this multiple times at multiple colleges and universities.
I am shocked that Board President Ms. Savage-Williams would dare say “Evanston is one of the best districts for white students,” is she forgetting what school she works in? This would never fly at New Trier-they actually start working with students AND parents as freshmen so that they are prepared for post high school early on. Evanston was great, when we moved here 18+ years ago and since then it keeps falling further and further back in rankings and for some reason it isn’t even a recognized STEM school like many of the Northshore High Schools are, New Trier being one of them.
Ms.Livingston is correct in the statement, “What they’re coming in the door with is what they got from District 65”. You can’t have a failing K-8 district and a thriving 9-12. It doesn’t add up. ETHS will very soon feel the deficits building in D65.
The article exposes the folly of analyzing education by racial or color groupings. For example, In some statistics, Asian students are listed as underperforming and in others as over performing. This type of analysis avoids concentrating on the real questions: Why are certain students (regardless of ethnicity, color, et.) underperforming? Are they unprepared by their pre ETHS experience and if so, how do you fix that.