District 65 Report Revealed Racial Academic Gaps
The latest accountability report highlights significant disparities in student performance and discipline.
Updated on Sept. 29, 2026 in Secondary Education
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Evanston District 65 released its 2025-26 Achievement and Accountability Report on Monday, detailing ongoing racial gaps in academic performance and school discipline. The findings show that while reading scores have improved since 2021, math proficiency remains stagnant.
Why it matters
The report serves as a critical measure of the district's efforts to address long-standing educational inequities among its student population. Identifying these gaps allows the board to evaluate the efficacy of current policies regarding student achievement and disciplinary actions.
Black students currently account for 23% of the district population but received 71% of out-of-school suspensions. Additionally, the number of 8th graders required to take pre-algebra at ETHS has dropped to 7%, down from 20% previously.
The players
District 65
This is the primary school district serving the Evanston community.
The details
District 65 utilizes the Illinois Assessment of Readiness to measure student proficiency and relies on the Branching Minds system to monitor disciplinary citations. While reading scores have shown growth since the 2021-2022 baseline period, the district has yet to see a similar recovery in overall math scores.
Timeline
Board members began tracking achievement gaps in 2016.
The 2021-2022 school year served as the baseline period for score comparisons.
The 2025-2026 report documents data for the current period.
The school board reviewed the findings on Monday, September 28, 2026.
Culture Shift
This analysis reflects a broader movement in American public education toward granular accountability in addressing racial disparities. By aligning local performance metrics with the Illinois Assessment of Readiness (IAR) standards, the district is following a national trend of transparency in reporting equity data.
Families may see changes to academic programming and disciplinary protocols as the district addresses these performance gaps. Parents can expect potential shifts in educational focus once the board finalizes its budget cuts for the upcoming year.
The takeaway
The latest findings indicate that while reading programs are showing success, the district faces a continued challenge in stabilizing math scores for all students. Moving forward, the board aims to prioritize these academic concerns alongside the necessity of impending budget adjustments.
Further reading
For additional context on student metrics, visit the Secondary Education section.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Evanston Now.
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