Post by Arwen on Nov 2, 2010 6:32:04 GMT -5
Dear District 204 Community,
At the November 1 Board of Education meeting, we reviewed student performance on state required standardized tests. I'm happy to share with the community that our students' overall performance continues to be exemplary, and in some areas we saw significant growth.
As a district, 93.3 percent of our students met or exceeded state standards on the Illinois Standards Achievement Test (ISAT) for the combined reading, math, and science tests. That's an increase from last year's 92.4 percent score.
Other highlights include strong math achievement across the district. We saw an increase in scores at every grade level, with notable increases in sixth grade from 93.7 to 95.1 percent, and in eleventh grade, where scores rose from 71.2 to 76.8 percent.
Fifth-grade writing saw a remarkable increase from 72 to 80.5 percent.
Eleventh-grade science showed a significant gain from 71.7 to 75.7 percent.
Students continued to make steady growth on the ACT exam. The district's ACT composite score reached 23.9, a 0.1 increase over last year. This is significantly higher than the state average, which dropped 0.1 to 20.7. Our students' ACT scores have steadily increased since 2005, especially when compared to state averages. During that time period, District 204 saw an increase of 1.1, while the average district across the state saw an increase of .6 during the same period.
While the district's overall scores show high achievement, the district did not make Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) as measured by No Child Left Behind (NCLB) in four subgroups for reading: special education, limited English proficiency, Black and Hispanic.
According to NCLB, 77.5 percent of a subgroup must meet or exceed standards. Nine of the district's 33 schools did not reach this target because students in subgroup categories did not meet NCLB standards: Neuqua Valley and Waubonsie Valley High Schools, Crone, Fischer, Granger and Gregory Middle Schools, Georgetown, Longwood and McCarty Elementary Schools.
Our current achievement scores drive our ongoing areas of focus. We can clearly see the achievement gap in certain subgroups. This year, we began the reorganization of our special education services to address this gap. We are also working with each school through its school improvement plan to meet the needs of all students, regardless of race or economic background.
I invite you to review the academic achievement presentation materials from the November 1 meeting. You can find the presentation slides at Academic Achievement Summary , and on Tuesday, November 2, you will be able to view a video of the presentation at www.204tv.org.
Sincerely,
Kathy Birkett
Superintendent
At the November 1 Board of Education meeting, we reviewed student performance on state required standardized tests. I'm happy to share with the community that our students' overall performance continues to be exemplary, and in some areas we saw significant growth.
As a district, 93.3 percent of our students met or exceeded state standards on the Illinois Standards Achievement Test (ISAT) for the combined reading, math, and science tests. That's an increase from last year's 92.4 percent score.
Other highlights include strong math achievement across the district. We saw an increase in scores at every grade level, with notable increases in sixth grade from 93.7 to 95.1 percent, and in eleventh grade, where scores rose from 71.2 to 76.8 percent.
Fifth-grade writing saw a remarkable increase from 72 to 80.5 percent.
Eleventh-grade science showed a significant gain from 71.7 to 75.7 percent.
Students continued to make steady growth on the ACT exam. The district's ACT composite score reached 23.9, a 0.1 increase over last year. This is significantly higher than the state average, which dropped 0.1 to 20.7. Our students' ACT scores have steadily increased since 2005, especially when compared to state averages. During that time period, District 204 saw an increase of 1.1, while the average district across the state saw an increase of .6 during the same period.
While the district's overall scores show high achievement, the district did not make Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) as measured by No Child Left Behind (NCLB) in four subgroups for reading: special education, limited English proficiency, Black and Hispanic.
According to NCLB, 77.5 percent of a subgroup must meet or exceed standards. Nine of the district's 33 schools did not reach this target because students in subgroup categories did not meet NCLB standards: Neuqua Valley and Waubonsie Valley High Schools, Crone, Fischer, Granger and Gregory Middle Schools, Georgetown, Longwood and McCarty Elementary Schools.
Our current achievement scores drive our ongoing areas of focus. We can clearly see the achievement gap in certain subgroups. This year, we began the reorganization of our special education services to address this gap. We are also working with each school through its school improvement plan to meet the needs of all students, regardless of race or economic background.
I invite you to review the academic achievement presentation materials from the November 1 meeting. You can find the presentation slides at Academic Achievement Summary , and on Tuesday, November 2, you will be able to view a video of the presentation at www.204tv.org.
Sincerely,
Kathy Birkett
Superintendent