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District 84 test scores up, but not enough
ISAT scores in Franklin Park District 84 schools
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Updated: January 14, 2013 6:39AM
FRANKLIN PARK — Students in Franklin Park District 84 improved their scores on a statewide test but not enough to meet federal standards.
Reading overall went from 80.3 percent to 82.4 percent on this year’s Illinois Standard Achievement Test. The federal No Child Left Behind Act requires 85 percent to meet or beat standards in reading and math.
Math overall is at 88.9 percent this year.
“When I look at it as a whole, there are some real positives,” Superintendent David Katzin said.
Among those positives are second language learners, referred to as Limited English Proficiency students.
“(LEP) one of our lower scores but the district jumped up 8 percentage points,” Katzin said. “That’s attributable to a program that makes content material more comprehensible to LEP students. Out teachers are becoming more attuned to second language learners.”
District-wide, 22.7 percent of students are classified as second language learners, according the Illinois State Board of Education website.
A more challenged group is special education students. In reading, 48 percent of students met or exceeded state standards this year. In math, 59 percent of students met or exceeded standards.
“By definition, students with special needs are not supposed to be performing at a level commensurate with general education students,” Katzin said.
Over the last decade, scores have been going up. In 2002, 72 percent of students in District 84 were meeting or beating standards. This year, that number reached 86 percent.
