Ten public schools in county do not meet state benchmarks in reading, math
By KATE SCHOTT kschott@daily-chronicle.com
DeKALB – Ten of the 40 public schools in DeKalb County did not meet state standards in reading and math this year, according to the Illinois State Board of Education.
The state today released the annual School Report Cards, which contain a plethora of data on individual schools as well as districts throughout Illinois. The report cards name the schools that met Adequate Yearly Progress, or AYP, which are benchmarks based on the annual performance on standardized tests that the state, districts and schools must reach to be considered to be in compliance with the federal No Child Left Behind Act.
Click here to view data from local schools.
NCLB requires 100 percent of students be proficient in reading and math by the 2013-2014 academic year. This year, 70 percent of students were expected to meet or exceed the state learning standards; that percentage goes up by 7.5 percent each academic year. Also included in AYP are graduation rates for high schools and attendance rates for non-high schools.
Those not making AYP this year are DeKalb High School, Genoa-Kingston High School, Genoa-Kingston Middle School, Herman E. Dummer Elementary, Hinckley-Big Rock High School, Huntley Middle School, Jefferson Elementary School, Sandwich High School, Somonauk High School and Sycamore High School.
Statewide, 2,253 schools made AYP while 1,553 – up from 1,200 last year – did not, according to the ISBE. The results are based on tests – the Illinois Standards Achievement Test for students in third through eighth grades and the Prairie State Achievement Exam for 11th-graders – that were taken in March and April.
District administrators throughout DeKalb County stressed that students need to be evaluated on more than performance on one test. While they would be pleased if all students met state learning standards, and noted that there are areas where improvements could be made, they also said that having 100 percent of students proficient in reading and math might be impossible.
"The system is set up for every school to fail," Genoa-Kingston Superintendent Scott Wakeley said. "Yes, we want 100 percent of our students to meet and exceed standards. It's not realistic to think that 100 percent of students are all going to perform well on the same day at the same time on the same test."
Test results are broken up into several groups of students, including white, black, Hispanic, American Indian, students with disabilities and the economically disadvantaged. A school does not meet AYP if any group – which needs 45 students to be counted – fails to meet benchmarks.
Many local schools have just a few subgroups, because they don't have enough students to constitute one. Subgroups can also be added once 45 students are reached: That was the case at DeKalb High School, which for the first time had enough students for a Hispanic subgroup, district director of curriculum and instruction Roger Scott said. That is the one area where the school did not meet AYP, he said.
A subgroup that often doesn't meet AYP is students with disabilities. That was the case at Huntley Middle School and G-K Middle School. Wakeley noted those students have to take the same test students without disabilities in their grade level have to take. They wouldn't be receiving services if they were at grade level, he noted.
Title I schools that fail to make AYP for two consecutive years are placed on School Improvement status. Title I earmarks federal funds for schools where at least 40 percent of the children are from low-income families.
In the first year of school improvement, the school must develop an improvement plan and offer students a choice of which school to attend. In the second year, the school must offer supplemental services in addition to school choice, and in the third year the school district must implement one or more of a list of corrective actions.
Many area schools have improvement plans regardless of whether they are required. Administrators said they focus on everything from providing individual support to students, professional development to staff and getting parents more involved in their education.
And while there are improvements to be made, many school officials noted there were also accomplishments to be celebrated. Clinton-Rosette Middle School in DeKalb met AYP for the first time in three years, Scott said.
The elementary and middle school in the Hinckley-Big Rock School District had more than 90 percent of students meeting standards, HB-R Superintendent Jim Hammack said, and while the high school did not meet AYP in math the overall test scores for high schools went up.
And three of the eight districts in the county – Hiawatha, Hinckley-Big Rock and Indian Creek – met AYP as a whole, according to the ISBE.
"They have done an excellent job," Hiawatha Superintendent Christine Demory said of her district. "We are very proud of our teachers and students, and our parents. There is a community sense of pride of the schools."
Districts that made AYP
Hiawatha
Hinckley-Big Rock
Indian Creek
DeKalb County public schools that did not make AYP
DeKalb High School
Genoa-Kingston High School
Genoa-Kingston Middle School
Herman E. Dummer Elementary
Hinckley-Big Rock High School
Huntley Middle School
Jefferson Elementary School
Sandwich High School
Somonauk High School
Sycamore High School
Source: Illinois State Board of Education
Adequate Yearly Progress
What is AYP?
AYP stands for Adequate Yearly Progress. It represents the annual academic performance targets in reading and math that the state, districts and schools must reach to be considered on track for 100 percent proficiency by school year 2013-14.
Why does AYP exist?
As required by the Federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, “Sec. 1111 (b)(F), each state shall establish a timeline for adequate yearly progress. The timeline shall ensure that not later than 12 years after the 2001-2002 school year, all students ... will meet or exceed the state’s standards.”
Who has to make AYP?
The state public school districts and individual public schools must make AYP. All students and subgroups of 45 or more students are calculated for AYP.
The subgroups required by NCLB are: Racial/Ethnic: whites, blacks, Hispanics, Native American, Asian/Pacific Islander, and multi-ethnic; economically disadvantaged: students on free or reduced lunch; students with disabilities: students with IEPs; and Limited English Proficient students.
What happens if a Title I school or a school district doesn’t make AYP?
Nothing after one year. However, Title I schools that fail to make AYP for two consecutive years are placed on School Improvement. Title I earmarks federal funds for schools where at least 40 percent of the children are considered to be from low-income families.
In year one of school improvement, the school must develop an improvement plan and offer students a choice of which school to attend.
In year two, the school must offer supplemental services in addition to school choice.
In year three, the school district must implement one or more of a list of corrective actions.
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