Illinois Overhauls School Rating System as Board Removes Chronic Absentism Penalty

Schools Will No Longer Be Graded on a Curve

The Illinois State Board of Education in April approved a new school accountability system that changes how public schools are labeled on the state report card. The overhaul begins in fall 2026 and removes key measures that previously shaped how schools performed under the current rating system.

The board says the changes will make school ratings clearer and fairer. Yet at a time when nearly half of Illinois students can't read at grade level, the board's overhaul will change how schools are labeled without addressing how they perform.

Schools Will No Longer Be Graded on a Curve

The new system will grade schools based on fixed standards rather than ranking them against each other. Under the current system, only the top 10% can be in the top category and only the bottom 5% are ranked in the lowest.

The rankings are based on a school's performance against other schools rather than strictly on how well its students meet specific criteria. The new system will grade schools based on fixed standards. The goal is to eliminate moving goalposts, where a school's rating could change based on comparison to other schools even if its performance doesn't change. That could make ratings more consistent over time.

Fewer Schools Will Be Ranked in the Mid-Tier

The current system puts schools into four categories: exemplary, commendable, targeted and comprehensive. Schools labeled targeted or comprehensive require either district or state intervention under the federal Every Student Succeeds Act.

Currently, almost 75% of schools rank commendable, yet their scores vary widely in many of the performance metrics. The new model uses five categories. It keeps exemplary and comprehensive at the top and bottom but splits the middle categories of commendable and targeted support into three: approaching exemplary, commendable and developing.

According to the state board, these new categories will more evenly distribute across the five tiers, with only 31% of K-8 schools and 25% of high schools ranking commendable using 2025 school data, compared with 73% of all schools in the current system.

While that could create clearer distinctions, it also means more schools might initially appear to fall in the rankings and others will appear to move up even if nothing has changed in the classroom.

Consistent Attendance Will Replace Chronic Absenteeism

The new system will replace chronic absenteeism with consistent attendance. Chronic absenteeism measures the percentage of students missing 10% or more of the school year, with or without a valid excuse. Consistent attendance measures the percentage who have been present 90% or more of the school year.

While the metrics are functionally identical, the reframing plays down chronic absenteeism, a problem in Illinois schools.

High Attendance Will Improve a School's Ranking

The redesign also changes how student attendance from a core indicator to only an elevating indicator. Under the new system, strong consistent attendance will raise a school's rating, but a weak performance won't lower it.

The state calls this a strengths-based approach, but what it actually means is that students skipping class won't ding a school's rating. This change comes as schools across Illinois struggle with high chronic absenteeism.

The Accountability Overhaul Changes How Schools Are Labeled

The bottom line: This overhaul will change how schools are labeled but not how they perform. Many Illinois students are struggling in core subjects.

Just over half of Illinois public school students could read at grade level and 39% were proficient in math on 2025 state assessments, according to data from the Illinois State Board of Education.

These rates come after the board changed how proficiency is determined, lowering the reading and math scores considered proficient on the Illinois Assessment of Readiness.

Illinois should pursue rigor and transparency in public schools rather than lowering standards or softening accountability metrics.