Do all public schools in Illinois teach the same curriculum? (Chicago: transfer, school districts) - Chicago Suburbs - (IL) - City-Data Forum

flamadiddle · 09-28-2016, 02:31 PM

Mostly interested in Elementary and Middle school. We recently moved from out of state to District 303, which from my research appeared to be one of the highest rated school districts in the Chicago burbs. However, our kids are bored to death! They have already been taught everything they are learning now. So now I'm wondering, did I make a mistake on which school district to pick or are they all teaching from the same playbook in Illinois?

nana053 · 09-28-2016, 04:12 PM

I am pretty sure that Illinois has common standards.

Try here: Illinois State Board of Education - Illinois Learning Standards

MayaLucy · 09-29-2016, 08:23 AM

Is it just because it is the beginning of the school year and there is some review? Meet with the teachers and go over what the curriculum plans are for the year. I'm sure there are options for making sure your kids are placed appropriately and challenged, but that is on you to be the squeaky wheel and make sure that happens.

flamadiddle · 09-29-2016, 08:24 AM

Thanks, sounds like moving to a different school district within Illinois would not make a difference. This is disappointing. I expected so much more from the high property taxes here. I wish there would have been a way to find this out before moving. My kids actually asked if there's a way they can skip a grade so they will be challenged. They asked a teacher about this and her response was relax, it will be an easy A for you this year. Way to push the next generation!

MayaLucy, just saw your response. No, but that's what they thought at first too, maybe this is all just a review... but now we're well into the year and they are being given assignments that they did in grades 2 years prior. Crazy... Yes, meeting with the teachers will be next and to see if there is a way to take a test, etc. to possibly skip a grade. Obviously skipping a grade is not optimal socially and paying for private school on top of the insane taxes here also doesn't make sense.

damba · 09-29-2016, 08:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by flamadiddle

Mostly interested in Elementary and Middle school. We recently moved from out of state to District 303, which from my research appeared to be one of the highest rated school districts in the Chicago burbs. However, our kids are bored to death! They have already been taught everything they are learning now. So now I'm wondering, did I make a mistake on which school district to pick or are they all teaching from the same playbook in Illinois?

St Charles *is* a good district. You are missing a few things though.

I have friend's who relocated from wealthy NoVa (by DC) and said their kids were ahead in math here, but behind in social studies and reading/literature. What does this mean? Keep in mind that 'teaching the same curriculum' doesn't mean that you see precise subjects introduced at the exact same time/grade. Some kids where you used to live likely tested up or down a level, depending on the kids and schools, etc.

Doesn't 303 offer different levels of math, etc.?

chet everett · 09-29-2016, 09:15 AM

The above poster that mentions "Illinois common standards" is badly mistaken if they believe that such "standards" necessitate any uniform curricular choices. Each school district in Illinois has very wide latitude in choosing everything from materials used to teach, the specific sequence of courses, and how they assess success within those courses. This is in sharp contrast to other states such as Texas where such things are mandated by state boards, and as such highlights how things like Common Core / PARCC are esdtisnlyy a very poor "floor" that has been rejected by many...

While D303 that serves St. Charles is one of the better unit districts in the greater Fox Valley the OP's reaction is not surprising. The best performing high schools in Illinois tend to be separate from the elementary districts. While one might think there is more uniform / coordinated instruction in a unit district what really happens is that pay for the teachers in the high schools is not as competitive as the high school only districts and thus they do not attract the most driven teachers. The efforts of high performing high schools to coordinate middle school courses with the feeder district is very successful in districts like New Trier, Stevenson, and Hinsdale D86... I would further point out that areas with modest property tax rates, such as Oak Brook, are able to have very well supported schools due to the mix of valuable non-residential property and the very success oriented parents that choose to live in the area. Paying high taxes is quite common in Illinois, getting good value for those taxes is a whole other issue...

While I would not recommend selling and relocating I might suggest that if the OP's children truly can be shown to have mastered the material it would be wise to ask for a more enriched experience. Most districts offer some formal differentiation. Students that show academic promise ought to be offered appropriate challenges. There are opportunities to have academically talented students pursue advanced work. There were testing dates prior to school -- Academically Talented Testing for Students New to D303 | St. Charles CUSD 303

The lesson that others might learn is, as I routinely stress, for families relocating with school aged children it makes sense to seek out the town with the most well regarded schools. For a district like D303 that also means finding the attendance areas with most well regarded schools, and perhaps weighing ease of commute against seeking out a town with even more highly rated schools...

Finally, I know many families in the greater Fox Valley area that much prefer the environment of the private schools. The relative emphasis on academic achievement and overall student focus on college preparation is much different in such settings. Though much of that focus is undoubtedly attributable to the social aspects of the whole school community, that includes a large financial committment from parents, one cannot ignore the fact that such a setting has no room for kids that end up bringing down the rigor in larger public settings. Even students of modest means that earn need based scholarships to the private schools face the same expectations of excellence that more affluent kids must meet. Whatever tiers exist in private schools are designed to help every student have the best shot at an appropriate college. In contrast, too many kids wandering the halls at some public schools are in such a low track that they will never be prepared for any sort of college or even career training. They've been written off and merely passed along...

Paige65 · 09-30-2016, 04:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by flamadiddle

Thanks, sounds like moving to a different school district within Illinois would not make a difference. This is disappointing. I expected so much more from the high property taxes here. I wish there would have been a way to find this out before moving. My kids actually asked if there's a way they can skip a grade so they will be challenged. They asked a teacher about this and her response was relax, it will be an easy A for you this year. Way to push the next generation!

MayaLucy, just saw your response. No, but that's what they thought at first too, maybe this is all just a review... but now we're well into the year and they are being given assignments that they did in grades 2 years prior. Crazy... Yes, meeting with the teachers will be next and to see if there is a way to take a test, etc. to possibly skip a grade. Obviously skipping a grade is not optimal socially and paying for private school on top of the insane taxes here also doesn't make sense.

How old are your children?

If they are in high school, there should be lots of opportunities for differentiated instruction. In my district there are kids in the same grade taking algebra and calculus, and everything in between. Also, maybe they follow a different curriculum sequence than your old school. In our high school we follow a freshman physics, sophomore chemistry, junior biology, and then senior elective science curriculum. If we transferred to another school we would technically be "ahead" having already taken physics, but in reality it's just a different approach to the sequence of subjects.

If your kids are in elementary school, there should be opportunities to test them into different subject levels, while staying in the same grade.

Careless · 10-02-2016, 01:20 PM

Actual question (ok, I don't remember the exact names and numbers, it's been a few years) my daughter was asked on homework one month into kindergarten in Glencoe: "If Bob is 68 inches tall and Jane is 5 inches shorter than Bob and Fred is 11 inches taller than Jane, how many inches are the three of them combined?" They were also reading The Boxcar Children at that point.

Now, this was the highest level of differentiation they had, only 3 of about 100 students were in this mini-class, and the three of them spent most of their time bored to tears in the regular class, so it wasn't perfect on a few levels. But it certainly was challenging for them.

Careless · 10-02-2016, 01:23 PM

On the other hand, when I went to school in Winnetka in the 80s, they didn't start giving homework at all until 4th grade

edit to avoid making another separate post in a row

On the other hand, there is no differentiation mini-class in the third grade school, and the stuff they're doing in the main class is trivial (single digit multiplication and division, non-difficult spelling, from what I've seen) so my daughter has been working on her own on the advanced materials, and one month into school, she's run out of those. So I'm going to have to start creating algebra homework now.

Taco1234 · 10-03-2016, 07:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by flamadiddle

Mostly interested in Elementary and Middle school. We recently moved from out of state to District 303, which from my research appeared to be one of the highest rated school districts in the Chicago burbs. However, our kids are bored to death! They have already been taught everything they are learning now. So now I'm wondering, did I make a mistake on which school district to pick or are they all teaching from the same playbook in Illinois?

But wait! Illinois is the greatest place on earth and Atlanta sucks ... maybe the schools in GA weren't so bad after all?