The bar keeps on rising for schools: Area districts try to keep up with state goals
By JOSEPH BUSTOS
and SARAH OWEN
800-798-4085, ext. 501
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For the third year in a row, Rock Falls High School didn’t make the grade, in the eyes of the state and under the requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind Act.
To help it move in the right direction, the school continues to have as many students possible take Algebra I their freshman year, to provide extra instruction time for incoming freshmen who aren’t at grade level in reading, and to provide more tutoring for those struggling.
Rock Falls isn’t alone. Schools strive to attain the mandated continual improvement, but many did not meet the state benchmark because their 2009 Prairie State Achievement Exam scores fell short.
Six of nine public high schools in Lee and Whiteside County – Sterling, Morrison, Rock Falls, Fulton, Erie and Dixon – did not make the adequate yearly progress required by the act.
Sterling, Dixon, Rock Falls and Erie are on academic early warning lists. For Rock Falls and Dixon, this is year two on the list.
Under the No Child rules, if schools have 5 consecutive years of failure, the state will begin creating a restructuring plan for the school.
Tad Everett is Sterling Public Schools superintendent.
“We want to be a part of the accountability component that legislatures and the business world is placing upon us,” Everett said. “Any business doesn’t base its successes on a one-day event ..., but that’s what we do when we’re testing. It doesn’t take into the fact that you’re sick, the fact you’ve had a bad day, that’s there’s been a catastrophic event in your life. Those things matter.”
“Our frustration is it is a snapshot, it is a one-time, one-day event that determines how well your school is doing,” Everett said.
High school juniors in Illinois must take the Prairie State Achievement Exam, which is a combination of the ACT, a test students use on their college applications, and WorkKeys, a test that looks at skills needed in a workplace.
Students must take the PSAE to graduate, but they don’t need to pass it.
A recent investigation of Chicago-area high schools found that some districts have found a way to work around stringent academic yearly progress standards.
Administrators have massaged the definition of “juniors” – the students who are required to take the tests – and consequently are excluding those who are struggling academically from being tested.
Instead of classifying students by how many years they’ve been in school, they are classified by how many credits they’ve earned.
The idea isn’t exclusive to Chicago and its suburbs, though – school districts in the Sauk Valley are familiar with the practice. Some districts swear they won’t follow suit, some have talked about it, and some already have changed their policies.
In Sterling and Rock Falls
Sterling and Rock Falls high schools determine a students’ class standing – whether they are juniors or seniors – by the number of credits they have earned.
Rock Falls made the change to credits earned after No Child Left Behind was enacted. Even though the school requires students to take Algebra I and Geometry to graduate, they aren’t required to be classified as juniors.
Students do need to take a certain amount of certain types of classes, such as English, science, social studies, health and physical education, to graduate.
Sterling followed suit about 5 years ago.
Having the credit requirements helps keep students on track toward graduation, said Ron McCord, principal at Rock Falls High.
“If they’re behind in credits, we want to do everything we can so they could graduate in 4 years,” McCord said. That might mean summer school or after-school credit recovery.
“The big thing is, it needs to be a wake-up call that they’re not on time to graduate.”
Sterling Public Schools Human Resources Jerry Binder was principal at Sterling High School when it made the change from years in school to credits earned to determine a student’s standing.
When the school made the change there was an initial increase in the number of students who met standards on the PSAE. In 2006, SHS saw a 12-percentage point increase in reading, and an 11 percentage point increase in math. In 2007, reading dropped 10 percentage points to 54 percent and math stayed the same.
The scores for both reading and math have stayed in the 50s at SHS. “In reality, it balances out,” Binder said. He added each class is different, and some might be stronger academically.
If a student hasn’t done the course work to be classified as junior, “what chance do they have of doing well on the PSAE?” Binder said.
Part of the PSAE is the ACT, the scores from which students can use on their college applications.
Both schools are pushing students to take more rigorous course work. For example, because ACT recommends students be in Algebra II at least, both schools push students into Algebra I as freshmen, so they will be on track to take Geometry their sophomore year and Algebra II their junior year.
“If they haven’t earned credits to be a junior, they’re not prepared for a college level entrance exam,” McCord said.
Both schools require Algebra I and Geometry for graduation, plus one more math class. Starting with the Class of 2012, each school requires 4 years of English to graduate.
Students would only do well on the PSAE if they’re taking classes that concentrate on the standards of the exam, Binder said.
At Rock Falls, it affects 3 to 10 juniors a year, in a class of about 175. At Sterling High School it affects about 20 students a year, which has classes between 200 and 225 students.
In Dixon
Requirements at Dixon High School have not changed since “No Child” testing started, Principal Mike Grady said.
The district is not considering bumping up either the credit requirement or course requirements for juniors, he added.
“We’re not looking to exclude any kids from taking the PSAE,’” Grady said. “But it doesn’t seem like everybody is playing by the same rules.”
Instead, the high school has increased the rigor of freshman English and math classes; Grady believes students will rise to the challenge. Those who struggle will be caught in time, hopefully, and can get one-on-one tutoring.
“The bottom line is, we have to prepare students for their futures,” Grady said. “Making the curriculum easier, I don’t think, is the answer. It doesn’t do them any good.”
Dixon High School has failed to make adequate yearly progress in math, for the second year in a row.
In Morrison
The Morrison school district also has not upped its requirements for junior status, high school Principal Cory Bielema said – but he and teachers have discussed it.
“It is something that we have looked at,” Bielema said. “We know other schools have made the changes, but we haven’t come up with anything definite.”
Morrison High School failed to make adequate yearly progress in math last year, for the first time.
If the high school were to make changes, Bielema said it likely would be in specific course requirements, rather than in credit requirements. Sophomores would advance to junior level only after they had passed Algebra I, for example.
“I do think that you have to meet a certain standard, as far as the core requirements,” he said. “But I can see where it could be misconstrued by some as a way to get around the test, and that’s not what we’re looking at.”
Things still are in the early stages of discussion, said Bielema, who is serving his first year as the high school’s principal.
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