Post by WeNeed3 on Oct 29, 2010 8:36:11 GMT -5
Posh schools make grade
October 29, 2010
By Rosalind Rossi and Art Golab Staff Reporters
Both high schools in posh Township District 113, headquartered in Highland Park, landed among the 10 highest-scoring in the state this year.
In Chicago, pricey Lincoln Park produced both the highest-ranked city neighborhood high school and an elementary-middle school in the top 25 statewide.
Those are some of the results of an annual Chicago Sun-Times analysis of state test scores released today amid a national push to pump up the stakes attached to tests. In Illinois, by 2016, student tests will be used to evaluate principals and teachers.
Meanwhile, the federal No Child Left Behind Law continued to turn up the heat on schools, requiring 77.5 percent of students to pass state tests to meet federal targets. By next school year, 92.5 must pass.
As a result, for the first time, more than half of all Illinois public schools missed their federal targets -- including Highland Park High and three other top-10 high schools. Statewide, 90 percent of high schools blew their targets.
Even affluent, high-scoring schools were tripped up by the performance of "subgroups" of kids -- such as special education, limited-English or African American students.
Statewide, nearly one in 10 schools missed their targets so repeatedly they face drastic shakeups.
Meanwhile, state Schools Supt. Christopher Koch noted the increasing "disconnect'' between the Illinois Standards Achievement Tests, which 80.9 percent of all third- through eighth-graders passed, and the Prairie State Achievement Exam, which only 53 percent of all high school juniors passed.
State education officials declared the "discrepancy" in performance demanded "urgent attention'' but new, tougher tests will not be released until 2014.
However, Sun-Times annual rankings are based on the average reading and math scores -- not by the percent who passed a certain threshold that can change in subtle or obvious ways from year to year.
As expected, schools in affluent districts or with selective admissions continued to pack the top of the charts. All three Chicago high schools in the top 10 -- No. 1 Northside, No. 2 Payton and No. 4 Young Magnet -- handpick kids based in large part on tests.
At Township District 113, Supt. George Fornero said he was bowled over by the quality of the district's two high schools when he left the school superintendency in Ann Arbor, Mich., to take over D113.
"Is it a draw for parents to live here? Absolutely," Fornero said.
The district's Deerfield High moved up two notches, to No. 5 statewide, while companion Highland Park High vaulted over 10 others to land at No. 9 statewide.
Some changes that may have heightened Highland Park's leap include an after-school homework club, mandatory small-group help for struggling students, and an October practice ACT tests for juniors -- all started just over two years ago, Principal Brad Swanson said. The practice test offers a prelude to the ACT given on the first day of the two-day Prairie State exam.
Fornero also credited extremely supportive parents. "When we ask for help, we get help,'' he said. For example, Fornero said, after parents were told the school wanted to convert its grassy football field to artificial turf, they raised more than $500,000 in only six weeks.
In Chicago's Lincoln Park, Lincoln School's average scores landed it at No. 114 statewide for its third- through fifth-grade results and at No. 22 statewide for its sixth- through eighth-grade ones. The high school where those students are guaranteed a seat -- Lincoln Park High -- was the city's highest-scoring neighborhood high school, and No. 130 statewide.
Lincoln Park High achieved those results with 57 percent low-income kids, compared to less than 12 percent at Highland Park and 1 percent at Deerfield.
"A large portion of our student body is not rich, by any means,'' said Lincoln Park High Principal Mark Boratz. The 1,150 students who qualified for free or reduced lunches last year constitute more kids than some high schools hold, so "it's a challenge,'' Boratz said.
However, only 27 percent of freshmen entered Lincoln Park High this year via the neighborhood route, Boratz estimated. The remainder entered via a citywide competition for performing arts seats or academically advanced ones.
As a result, Boratz said, "We have kids who want to be here, so they are highly motivated to do well.''
www.suntimes.com/news/education/2845770,CST-NWS-SKLroundup29long.article
October 29, 2010
By Rosalind Rossi and Art Golab Staff Reporters
Both high schools in posh Township District 113, headquartered in Highland Park, landed among the 10 highest-scoring in the state this year.
In Chicago, pricey Lincoln Park produced both the highest-ranked city neighborhood high school and an elementary-middle school in the top 25 statewide.
Those are some of the results of an annual Chicago Sun-Times analysis of state test scores released today amid a national push to pump up the stakes attached to tests. In Illinois, by 2016, student tests will be used to evaluate principals and teachers.
Meanwhile, the federal No Child Left Behind Law continued to turn up the heat on schools, requiring 77.5 percent of students to pass state tests to meet federal targets. By next school year, 92.5 must pass.
As a result, for the first time, more than half of all Illinois public schools missed their federal targets -- including Highland Park High and three other top-10 high schools. Statewide, 90 percent of high schools blew their targets.
Even affluent, high-scoring schools were tripped up by the performance of "subgroups" of kids -- such as special education, limited-English or African American students.
Statewide, nearly one in 10 schools missed their targets so repeatedly they face drastic shakeups.
Meanwhile, state Schools Supt. Christopher Koch noted the increasing "disconnect'' between the Illinois Standards Achievement Tests, which 80.9 percent of all third- through eighth-graders passed, and the Prairie State Achievement Exam, which only 53 percent of all high school juniors passed.
State education officials declared the "discrepancy" in performance demanded "urgent attention'' but new, tougher tests will not be released until 2014.
However, Sun-Times annual rankings are based on the average reading and math scores -- not by the percent who passed a certain threshold that can change in subtle or obvious ways from year to year.
As expected, schools in affluent districts or with selective admissions continued to pack the top of the charts. All three Chicago high schools in the top 10 -- No. 1 Northside, No. 2 Payton and No. 4 Young Magnet -- handpick kids based in large part on tests.
At Township District 113, Supt. George Fornero said he was bowled over by the quality of the district's two high schools when he left the school superintendency in Ann Arbor, Mich., to take over D113.
"Is it a draw for parents to live here? Absolutely," Fornero said.
The district's Deerfield High moved up two notches, to No. 5 statewide, while companion Highland Park High vaulted over 10 others to land at No. 9 statewide.
Some changes that may have heightened Highland Park's leap include an after-school homework club, mandatory small-group help for struggling students, and an October practice ACT tests for juniors -- all started just over two years ago, Principal Brad Swanson said. The practice test offers a prelude to the ACT given on the first day of the two-day Prairie State exam.
Fornero also credited extremely supportive parents. "When we ask for help, we get help,'' he said. For example, Fornero said, after parents were told the school wanted to convert its grassy football field to artificial turf, they raised more than $500,000 in only six weeks.
In Chicago's Lincoln Park, Lincoln School's average scores landed it at No. 114 statewide for its third- through fifth-grade results and at No. 22 statewide for its sixth- through eighth-grade ones. The high school where those students are guaranteed a seat -- Lincoln Park High -- was the city's highest-scoring neighborhood high school, and No. 130 statewide.
Lincoln Park High achieved those results with 57 percent low-income kids, compared to less than 12 percent at Highland Park and 1 percent at Deerfield.
"A large portion of our student body is not rich, by any means,'' said Lincoln Park High Principal Mark Boratz. The 1,150 students who qualified for free or reduced lunches last year constitute more kids than some high schools hold, so "it's a challenge,'' Boratz said.
However, only 27 percent of freshmen entered Lincoln Park High this year via the neighborhood route, Boratz estimated. The remainder entered via a citywide competition for performing arts seats or academically advanced ones.
As a result, Boratz said, "We have kids who want to be here, so they are highly motivated to do well.''
www.suntimes.com/news/education/2845770,CST-NWS-SKLroundup29long.article
