Galesburg District 205 was able to improve its graduation rate by 7% over the last year, according to data from the 2023-24 Illinois State Board of Education's school report card.
D205 Superintendent of Schools John Asplund, who joined Galesburg's Morning News, says the biggest factors measured in the school report card are if students are coming to school and if they're learning.
At the high school level, the report is heavily weighed by graduation rate and how many freshmen are on track to graduate.
Asplund gives credit to a new program at the high school called Student Success, a school inside a school model that came into place after GHS North went away.
Asplund says ISBE's report card rates schools as exemplary, where about 5% of the stste schools are, or commendable for most schools, and then targeted assistance or comprehensive assistance for lower performing schools.
Most 205 schools are rated as commendable although Asplund says some are rated as targeted assistance for low performing sub-groups.