Joliet Public Schools District 86 received its Illinois Report Cards for all 20 of its schools, and although the district is performing below the state average as a whole, Superintendent Theresa Rouse emphasized continuous growth as a positive takeaway.

“What we’re proud of is the growth we share year after year,” Rouse said. “It’s always a work in progress, but we’re making good growth.”

Growth, as measured by the Illinois State Board of Education, indicates “the average of individual students growth percentiles in English language arts and math, measured against current academic peers and against a 2019 baseline.”

While 2025 is the first year using new standards for proficiency in math, ELA and science, making it difficult to compare scores year to year, growth can continue to be measured.

In 2025, District 86 students scored average growth in the 42nd percentile in ELA and in the 45.9 percentile in math, meaning students performed better than 42% of comparable students in ELA and better than 45.9% of comparable students in math statewide.

The state average is the 50 percentile.

On the measure of proficiency, however, the district was further from the state average.

District 86 students had an average ELA proficiency of 29% across tested students from third to eighth grade. Students also scored 16% proficiency in math and 21.4% proficiency in science.

The state averages in these subjects are 52.4% in ELA, 38.4% in math and 44.6% in science.

“Illinois made some adjustments in its assessment system and measure of proficiency this year,” Assistant Superintendent Ankhe Bradley said. “We moved from five indicators of performance to four, so this year is a new benchmark.”

Individual school performances

In addition to reporting on student test scores, the Illinois Report Cards give each school a designation based on student academic performance and other metrics.

The top 5% of schools across the state are ranked as “exemplary,” while the bottom 5% are designated as “comprehensive.”

Schools with some but not all student demographic groups performing in the bottom 5% are listed as “targeted.”

The majority of schools with students performing above the bottom 5% in all groups are designated as “commendable.” Schools that have performed in the bottom 5% for multiple years without improvement are designated as “intensive.”

For 2025, District 86 had 10 of its 19 ranked schools receive a “commendable” designation. Seven schools were classified as “targeted,” while two schools received a “comprehensive” designation.

Rouse called the breakdown “fairly similar to breakdowns from previous years.”

The Joliet schools listed as “targeted” include Dirkson Junior High, Gompers Junior High, Hufford Junior High, MJ Cunningham Elementary School, Pershing Elementary School, Sator Sanchez Elementary School, and Washington Junior High and Academy Program.

All of the “targeted” schools have students with disabilities listed as their underperforming student group. Hufford Junior High is the only school with two student groups performing in the bottom 5% of Illinois students, with both students with disabilities and Black/African American students in the targeted range.

Edna Keith Elementary School and Farragut Elementary School were both listed as “comprehensive” for 2025. This is the same ranking Edna Keith received in 2024, and a downgrade for Farragut, which was listed as “targeted” in 2024.

Of the 2025 “targeted” schools, Dirksen, Hufford, Cunningham and Pershing were downgraded from last year’s designations. Gompers was an upgrade from being designated as “comprehensive” in 2024.

Other changes in ranking for District 86 in 2025 were a step down from “exemplary” to “commendable” for Forest Park Individual Ed School, and a two-designation upgrade for Lynne Thigpen Elementary School from “comprehensive” to “commendable.”

Rouse and Bradley cited Forest Park and Eisenhower Academy as “excellent standout schools for us,” with students at both magnet schools performing better than the state average in all three subject areas.

“The way it’s set up, not all schools can be ”exemplary,’” Rouse said. “It’s just not possible.”

The administrators also praised the staff and students at Thigpen Elementary for raising their designation to “commendable.”

“We worked really hard with the leadership team there,” Rouse said. “We’re really proud of all our schools, but that is a great success story.”

Following the model that raised Thigpen’s results so significantly, Rouse said the district focus “is to ensure we look over improvement plans and professional development plans” for all the district’s other low-performing schools.

“We have regular data meetings each trimester with them,” Rouse said. “They review the performance data by groups and overall to see how students are doing, and go over it with the district.”

District-wide objectives

Bradley noted that across the district, three focus areas have been identified for improving student results: teacher clarity, professional learning and parental engagement.

These objectives are meant to “ensure students and teachers are aligned, and aligning what they are learning to grade-level standards,” Bradley said.

The goals also are meant to “ensure staff is receiving development on instruction strategies” and “ensuring parents remain partners in student achievement,” Bradley said.

The district is “lucky to have instructional coaches to work with teachers, and to plan with them, and help them review their data in ELA, math and technology,” she added.

Bradley also credited the District 86 multilingual learner department for making sure teachers and students have the resources they need “to support students and allow growth to thrive.”

“We’re continuing to follow our strategic plan,” Rouse said. “We are very proud of our teachers and staff and how they support our students, and we look forward to continuing our growth.”