Post by momto4 on Apr 24, 2008 6:46:23 GMT -5
Test scores prompt West High to extend school days this fall
• No Child Left Behind: District making changes to improve student performance on tests
April 24, 2008
By HEATHER GILLERS hgillers@scn1.com
AURORA -- West Aurora High School students could wait a little longer to be saved by the bell next year.
Administrators are moving forward with a proposal to extend the school day from seven to eight periods in fall 2008 as part of a high school restructuring plan approved by the board this week.
The high school is not federally mandated to put the plan in place until fall 2009 -- if at all. But administrators want to adopt some parts early "because that's what's best for our students," said Rosemary Pinnick, assistant superintendent for teaching and learning.
The U.S. Department of Education requires the district to draft a restructuring plan aimed at raising achievement among black, Hispanic, low-income and disabled students because many of those students at the high school did not meet academic standards in 2007 for the fourth year in a row.
The school is required to put the plan into action only after five years of inadequate test scores -- or fall 2009 at the earliest. But administrators are planning to go forward with the eight-period day in order to allow time for extra courses for star students and added homework and study skills help for teens who are falling behind.
"We've really approached it as 'we have students who are not being successful -- what is it we need to do differently?'" Pinnick said.
About 160 students who are falling behind are expected to spend one period in a 20-student intensive tutoring workshop where an assigned teacher would help them attack difficult assignments. Teachers in each subject would be available down the hall.
The high school is planning to hire 12 to 15 new teachers to teach the additional courses.
Under federal No Child Left Behind legislation, schools track achievement within certain subgroups in the student population. Schools are deemed deficient when low-income students, learning-disabled students or any racial group fail to meet federal standards.
At West Aurora High School, a quarter of black 11th-graders met academic standards on the math portion of Prairie State Achievement Exam (PSAE) in 2007 and 28 percent met reading standards.
Among Hispanic students, 35 percent met reading standards and 40 percent met math standards.
Among low-income students, a quarter met reading standards and 30 percent met math standards; and among students with disabilities, 21 percent met reading standards and 11 percent met math standards.
All of those percentages fall below the set of incrementally increasing benchmarks set by federal officials under the No Child Left Behind law. The West Aurora High School student body as a whole managed to stay within federal education officials' expectations after 43 percent of all students met reading standards and 49 percent met math standards.
• No Child Left Behind: District making changes to improve student performance on tests
April 24, 2008
By HEATHER GILLERS hgillers@scn1.com
AURORA -- West Aurora High School students could wait a little longer to be saved by the bell next year.
Administrators are moving forward with a proposal to extend the school day from seven to eight periods in fall 2008 as part of a high school restructuring plan approved by the board this week.
The high school is not federally mandated to put the plan in place until fall 2009 -- if at all. But administrators want to adopt some parts early "because that's what's best for our students," said Rosemary Pinnick, assistant superintendent for teaching and learning.
The U.S. Department of Education requires the district to draft a restructuring plan aimed at raising achievement among black, Hispanic, low-income and disabled students because many of those students at the high school did not meet academic standards in 2007 for the fourth year in a row.
The school is required to put the plan into action only after five years of inadequate test scores -- or fall 2009 at the earliest. But administrators are planning to go forward with the eight-period day in order to allow time for extra courses for star students and added homework and study skills help for teens who are falling behind.
"We've really approached it as 'we have students who are not being successful -- what is it we need to do differently?'" Pinnick said.
About 160 students who are falling behind are expected to spend one period in a 20-student intensive tutoring workshop where an assigned teacher would help them attack difficult assignments. Teachers in each subject would be available down the hall.
The high school is planning to hire 12 to 15 new teachers to teach the additional courses.
Under federal No Child Left Behind legislation, schools track achievement within certain subgroups in the student population. Schools are deemed deficient when low-income students, learning-disabled students or any racial group fail to meet federal standards.
At West Aurora High School, a quarter of black 11th-graders met academic standards on the math portion of Prairie State Achievement Exam (PSAE) in 2007 and 28 percent met reading standards.
Among Hispanic students, 35 percent met reading standards and 40 percent met math standards.
Among low-income students, a quarter met reading standards and 30 percent met math standards; and among students with disabilities, 21 percent met reading standards and 11 percent met math standards.
All of those percentages fall below the set of incrementally increasing benchmarks set by federal officials under the No Child Left Behind law. The West Aurora High School student body as a whole managed to stay within federal education officials' expectations after 43 percent of all students met reading standards and 49 percent met math standards.