HJ0043 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HJ0043 LRB099 08433 MST 28587 r

HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate and the Illinois House of Representatives wish to congratulate Highland Elementary School in Skokie School District 68 on being one of 2 Illinois schools recognized as National Title I Distinguished Schools; and

WHEREAS, The National Title I Association was established to help improve and implement programs under Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA); it recognizes up to 2 schools per state as National Title I Distinguished Schools; Title I is the largest federally funded pre-college education program, providing funding to school districts that serve students from low-income families; and

WHEREAS, The National Title I Association allows each state to select one qualifying school in each of the following 2 categories: (1) High Performing - A school that has exceeded its Adequate Yearly Progress, or alternative accountability criteria for those states with ESEA Flexibility Requests approved by the United States Department of Education, for 2 or more years; and (2) Achievement Gap - A school that has significantly closed the achievement gap between subgroups of students; and

WHEREAS, Highland Elementary School's Illinois Standard Achievement Test composite score increased by 13.7 percentage points, growing from 60.8% of students meeting or exceeding standards in 2010 to 74.5% in 2013; the school has closed the racial/ethnic achievement gap from 33.7% in 2011 to 21% in 2013; additionally, the achievement gap has also narrowed between low-income and non-low-income students from 31.7% in 2010 to 23.7% in 2013; and

WHEREAS, Highland Elementary School will be honored for its academic gains at the upcoming National Title I Association's annual conference in Salt Lake City, Utah, and at the No Child Left Behind annual statewide conference in Chicago; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that we congratulate Highland Elementary School on being one of 2 Illinois schools recognized as National Title I Distinguished Schools and wish them many more years of academic success; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to Highland Elementary School as an expression of our esteem and respect.