Franklin Park District 84 misses NCLB targets

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Updated: January 23, 2012 2:42AM

Franklin Park School District 84 schools did not meet state testing standards in various areas for the 2010-2011 school year, although student performance mostly improved from previous years.

Students took the Illinois Standards Achievement Test in February. According to raw data released to the schools in late June, the district as a whole did not make Adequate Yearly Progress overall and missed targets in reading and math.

Adequate Yearly Progress is a moving target, with testing minimums increasing every school year. For the 2010-2011 school year, under No Child Left Behind requirements, at least 85 percent of students had to meet or exceed state standards in reading and math.

During the 2009-2010 school year, that minimum was 77.5 percent.

District 84 Superintendent David Nemec said district-wide scores have mostly gone up since the ISAT was redesigned in 2006. For reading, district performance has risen from 71 percent in 2006 to 80 percent in 2011.

For math, it’s gone from 81 percent in 2006 to 88 percent in 2011.

“We’re trending in the right direction,” Nemec said.

But overall district performance is not all that is considered under No Child Left Behind. Minimum scores must also be met at each district school, and within student subgroups, often broken up based on racial and ethnic backgrounds, student special needs, English proficiency and student income. The state requires schools with 45 or more students in a subgroup to report out that group’s performance separately.

North Elementary School, for example, made adequate yearly progress overall, in reading and in math. Though slightly below target for math, North students overall still met the target due to a “confidence interval” which may be appplied at smaller schools in close cases.

“One thing you see at North, there is not a large enough subgroup in Limited English Proficiency or special education to report,” Nemec said “That’s what probably helped.”

Both Passow and Pietrini elementary schools made adequate yearly progress in math, but not in reading.

“A certain level of endurance is needed with reading more than math,” Nemec said. “Math is shorter, there is less reading. For Limited English Proficiency (students), a lot of it is language free.”

Passow had a 4 percent improvement in reading since the previous school year, Nemec said, but that wasn’t enough to meet the increased adequate yearly progress target.

Pietrini dipped slightly in its reading scores. Nemec said Pietrini has the district’s largest group of Limited English Proficiency students.

Hester Junior High did not make adequate yearly progress in reading or math. Nemec said student scores have improved over the last several years in both topics, but not enough to meet state standards for 2011.

Where it didn’t meet state standards, the district is required to submit a school improvement plan to the state with specific plans to improve scores.

The district is also starting three new programs to assist special education students at Hester Junior High. It’s looking to start a program this fall for Limited English Proficiency students.

Over the years, District 84 has developed new core instructional programs, for reading three years ago and math four years ago. It also started an online math “intervention” program two years ago for students needing help in math.

Both state and federal test standards could change in the next year. Mark Wancket, Illinois State Board of Education spokesman, e-mailed that “we cannot determine how enforcement would be affected as the result of possible federal or state changes.”

Adequate yearly progress reports will be posted on the District 84 website in October.