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Illinois' schools get new report cards

By Arnold Wyrick

ANNA, IL (KFVS) - Parents in Illinois are going to get a new look at how their schools are doing, thanks to a new law signed into effect by Governor Pat Quinn.

The new law is part of an ongoing effort and commitment to reform education in Illinois.

And part of that reform comes in a new school report card for parents to see just how their kids school compares to similar schools across the state.

"It's a great thing that's out there that gives you a snapshot of what's going on in the schools compared to this one," said Superintendent James Woolward at Anna-Jonesboro Community High School, District NO. 81. "But when you compare the two, the old one is eight to nine pages. The new one is only two pages. When you compare the two, I think going home to the parents they'll find the new one much more user friendly. And a lot easier to understand."

Superintendent Woolward also points out some advantages with the new report card that they didn't have with the old one.

"The student handbooks is multiple pages there's a lot of information in that handbook that parents don't sit down and read the whole thing. But you can highlight some of those things in this report card."

The new report cards don't reflect how an individual student is doing. Instead they show how the school is doing as a whole.

And some parents say it's much more easy for them to see what's going on at the school.

"When I looked at the new one it's only two pages And what I liked about it, it immediately showed what the graduation rate was at the school," said Kim Adams. "And how the school district is doing in relation to the state average which is nice. It's all right there you can look at it. And it's quick."

The change is something that Superintendent Woolward says won't require much more work from the district to do. And he says the change is a good thing for the school and parents.

"I think that was the concept behind it is that they wanted to get something that was going to get used by the parents," said Woolward. "I think this is one that they're going to understand, pick it up, read it and really get a better indication of what's going on here at Anna-Jonesboro High School."