Summative designations help families and communities understand how well schools are serving all students. Illinois has four summative designations: Exemplary School, Commendable School, Targeted School, and Comprehensive School. Targeted schools and Comprehensive schools receive additional funding and supports to build local capacity and improve student outcomes. Multiple measures of school performance and growth determine a school’s designation. The federal Every Student Succeeds Act requires states to provide a summative designation to each school with the required indicators, beginning in 2018. ISBE includes school designations annually in the Illinois Report Card at www.illinoisreportcard.com.

Technical Advisory Committee

2021 Waiver of Accountability

On February 22, 2021, ED communicated its intent to make waivers available for accountability but not for assessments despite the continued impact of COVID-19 on education this year and calls from multiple states (including Illinois) to fully waive assessment and accountability requirements. The accountability waiver request template published by ED allows states to waive two sets of requirements -- accountability calculations and the reporting of those calculations. ISBE submitted it's waiver request on April 1, 2021, and the request was approved by ED on April 6, 2021.

Illinois is not required to:

Issue annual summative designations using 2021 data.
Factor the 95% participation requirement into academic achievement calculations.
Measure progress toward long-term goals and interim targets using 2021 data.

Illinois must still:

Report the list of schools identified for support in 2021.
Report on chronic absenteeism.
Maintain the identification status of previously identified schools for 2021-22.
Require previously identified schools implement their support and improvement plans and receive appropriate supports and interventions.