2009 School Report Cards

[Bonster]

 I think people who buy in the area around Metra stations (at least in Berwyn and Brookfield) are more likely to have a higher level of education, higher income, white collar professionsals who take the Metra to work, regardless of their race or ethnicity.

Bullshit.  Berwyn's nicer areas just happen to be near the Metra station.  Folks usually live near trains because they can't afford to drive and need to rely on public transportation.

[buzz]

Folks usually live near trains because they can't afford to drive and need to rely on public transportation.

It's not just the driving Bonster, it's the price for parking too.

[Berwyn Patsy]

I think it's a status thing of being able to say, I live a block
from the train station, and I take the train to work.
It's just the cool thing to do these days!

[Bonster]

This isn't 1960; not everyone works downtown. 

[Shelley]

Emerson "outscored" 5 of 8 elementary schools in Oak Park (who spends about 50% more!).  2 of the 3 OP schools that scored higher did so by less than 1%.  

Wouldn't that suggest that more money (taxes) then is NOT the answer.  If they are spending 50% more (which is a high percentage), and doing worse, what does that tell you?

It depends on what our own standards are for education.  As a parent, I'm less interested in the results of 1 test for 1 week for only 1/2 the students in the district than I am in what goes on in all of the classrooms on all of the other days of the year.  The ISAT testing is only one measure of how successful a school is.  If a tax increase is directly tied to more after school programs, more enrichment opportunities, more technology, better experiences for Berwyn kids, then I'm one taxpayer that is willing to pay up regardless of the impact on the ISAT tests.  In fact, I'd rather have those specific expenditures articulated than an ISAT goal personally.     

That being said, the only real objective measure that is examined by the public (greatly impacting mobility rates, property values, self-esteem, and NCLB status) is the ISAT results.  As I looked closely at the report cards, one number knocked me off my high-horse about Emerson compared to the OP schools (and maybe this is the answer to your question about taxes).  Though Emerson had a higher % of kids meeting or exceeding standards than most of the OP schools.  EVERY ONE of the Oak Park schools had way more students (3rd grade reading and math...I didn't look at every class/subject) EXCEEDING standards.  This, I suppose, may be  because of dollars spent on bells and whistles like Gifted Education, enrichment programming, technology, after school clubs, higher paid teachers, more professional development for those teachers, better facilities, more art/music education, etc. , etc.

You can buy the least expensive meat at Jewel or you can go to Gibsons and pay up for a good steak and service.  Either way it's beef, right?  Why should you pay more?  A cow is a cow!(No comments from the foodies...it is just an example) OR Abraham Lincoln didn't even go to school...only owned like 2 books.  Why are we wasting all this money on education??

[n01_important]

You are assuming that if money is given... it will be properly spent.

I'm not sure that is a good assumption with some of these school boards.  That is why we have asked, "fix yourselves first to show you can act responsibly with the money you have... give us average results, then let's discuss giving more money".

[Shelley]

No, believe me, I'm not assuming that.  That is why I wrote that I'd like to see the specific expenditures (If a tax increase would be requested) articulated. 

  In fact, I'd rather have those specific expenditures articulated than an ISAT goal personally.     

[Shelley]

That is why we have asked, "fix yourselves first to show you can act responsibly with the money you have... give us average results, then let's discuss giving more money".

OK, I'll mark you down for a yes for a District 100 tax increase then.  THANKS!  The state average for for all state tests was 75.5% meeting or exceeding.  District 100 is 75.8%.  Oh, and District 98's 72.3 might even be considered average range, don't you think?  Is it possible to pull ourselves out of this expectation of mediocrity??  

I still think we'd be better off "discussing giving more money" if it was tied to specific expenses rather than average results.  

[Sandy]

Did any of you see the article in yesterday's Tribune about high school test scores? If a system is so flawed that schools will go to extraordinary measures to "pass", is it really a valid system? Our schools can't make AYP because the bar is raised every year. Even if they make last year's scores, they need to score better to make the "numbers". NCLB is a joke and needs to be repealed. All of you who only look at test scores to judge a school need to stop and think for yourselves.

[OakParkSpartan]

Did any of you see the article in yesterday's Tribune about high school test scores? If a system is so flawed that schools will go to extraordinary measures to "pass", is it really a valid system? Our schools can't make AYP because the bar is raised every year. Even if they make last year's scores, they need to score better to make the "numbers". NCLB is a joke and needs to be repealed. All of you who only look at test scores to judge a school need to stop and think for yourselves.

It may be a flawed system, but it is what people use to compare various school districts. 

I'm with Shelley.  Expectations need to be raised.

[Bru67]

Did any of you see the article in yesterday's Tribune about high school test scores? If a system is so flawed that schools will go to extraordinary measures to "pass", is it really a valid system? Our schools can't make AYP because the bar is raised every year. Even if they make last year's scores, they need to score better to make the "numbers". NCLB is a joke and needs to be repealed. All of you who only look at test scores to judge a school need to stop and think for yourselves.

You may be correct but the reality is that 99% of all prospective middle and upper middle class home buyers look very closely at ISAT scores when comparing suburbs. They don't seem to care one whit about this when it comes to City neighborhoods (possibly because Chicago has magnet schools?) but if they're looking at a suburb, the ISAT score instantly is the Number 1 Holy Grail factor in distinguishing one 'burb from the next.

So unless you're happy with slow property value increases, rising crime, and decaying business districts, we really need to look at improving those scores.  If the government repeals or changes them, great, but for now, we're stuck with them, and they are very important to many people. 

[Ted]

  Article in the Life newpaper:

    http://www.mysuburbanlife.com/berwyn/news/x1312013227/After-missing-mark-Berwyn-schools-look-to-hike-scores 
 
  After missing mark, Berwyn schools look to hike scores

 
By Adam Rosen, arosen@mysuburbanlife.com
Berwyn Life
Wed Nov 04, 2009, 01:53 PM CST

Berwyn, IL -

   As Illinois student performance standards get tougher each year, more schools are falling short of the mark, according to statewide report cards released this week.

  While most western suburb schools' overall tests scores were well above the state requirements, the results show that in many cases low-income students and students with disabilities are below the standard.

The annual report cards track performance for the federal No Child Left Behind Act. This year's reports for the roughly 4,000 schools and 869 districts in Illinois were released Friday, Oct. 30.

Of the roughly 600 schools in suburban Cook County, 216 did not make adequate yearly progress, according to the state's standards.

The high schools in western Cook fell across the spectrum. Riverside Brookfield made the grade this year, but Lyons Township fell short for the third year in math and reading. J. Sterling Morton High School District 201 fell far short, with about one-fourth of students passing either subject. The district failed to meet state standards for the sixth straight year.

With no Berwyn school district meeting Illinois' adequate yearly progress standards, officials in South Berwyn School District 100 are hoping changes to the reading program and the addition of an online testing assessment site will improve test scores.

The district met or exceeded the state's standards in all categories except for special education.
District 100 Director of Instruction and Assessment Anthony Cundari said the state's AYP standards are frustrating, but the district is working on ways to meet standards next year.

"Komenski School was on the watch list a few years ago, and now their scores are above average," Cundari said. "We're very excited with the progress we're making, but there's always room to improve."

Cundari said the district is placing special education students into regular classrooms to better learning and test scores. The district has also begun to use ThinkLink, a Web-based program run by Discovery Education. The program allows teachers to create tests in English and math and receive answers right away on how each student performed.

"It gives us a percentage of those that are below, meet or exceed state standards so we can see what the biggest problem area is to work on," Cundari said.

District 201 Assistant Superintendent Michael Kuzniewski said the district is in the second year of a three-year plan to increase student achievement. The district increased the amount of students meeting or exceeding state standards by 1 percentage point from last year, from 25 percent to 26 percent in 2009.

  "It's very difficult for me to fathom that we're going to hold all kids accountable for knowing the same things even though all kids are different," Kuzniewski said. "If the state standard you're measuring 100 percent of the kids isn't designed for everyone, you set them up for failure."

Each school's report card shows how the entire student body did on the tests, and it breaks down the scores into smaller student demographics. These subgroups — based on race, socioeconomic status or other factors — are measured if a school has 45 or more students in the group.

According to state law, after the first two years of not meeting adequate progress, a school is in "academic early watch status" and has to take steps to improve its scores. After the third year, the district steps in and helps create a "corrective action plan," which could include lengthening the school day or year and bringing in an outside adviser.

If after four years the school still has not made adequate progress, the district has to draft a more intensive restructuring plan for the school, and that plan is put into place after five years of not making progress.

The state gives school districts several options for the fifth-year restructuring plan, such as reopening as a public charter school, replacing much of the teaching staff or overhauling the curriculum, said Melina Wright, the No Child Left Behind liaison for the Illinois State Board of Education.

Seven years after the No Child Left Behind Act was enacted, some schools still are not making progress. And the law does not require additional steps.

"The law is silent," Wright said. "For whatever reason the law does not address what happens beyond the restructuring phase."

[Ted]

Also, this was a comment made by a poster. I found it interesting:

alancook  8 hours ago

  National math test scores continue to be disappointing. This poor trend persists in spite of new texts, standardized tests with attached implied threats, or laptops in the class. At some point, maybe we should admit that math, as it is taught currently and in the recent past, seems irrelevant to a large percentage of grade school kids.

Why blame a sixth grade student or teacher trapped by meaningless lessons? Teachers are frustrated. Students check out.

The missing element is reality. Instead of insisting that students learn another sixteen formulae, we need to involve them in tangible life projects. And the task must be interesting.

A Trip To The Number Yard is a math book focusing on the building of a bungalow. Odd numbered chapters cover the phases of the project: lot layout, foundation, framing, all the way through until the trim out. The even numbered chapters introduce the math needed for the next stage of building and/or reviews the previous lessons.

This type of project-oriented math engages kids. It is fun. They have a reason to learn the math they may have ignored in the standard lecture format of a class room.

If we really want kids to learn math and to have the lessons be valuable, we need to change the mode of teaching. Our kids can master the math that most adults need. We cant continue to have class rooms full of math drudges. Instead, we need to change our teaching tactics with real life projects.

Alan Cook
info@thenumberyard.com
www.thenumberyard.com

[mustang54]

  Very interesting comment and an even more interesting approach. I read an article on AOL last night that was really interesting. It stated that 75% of our young people between the ages of 17 and 24 do not qualify to enter the Army. They are either over weight,cannot past the aptitude test,have not finished high school, or have a criminal record. That figure to me was shocking and sad.

[Bonster]

Also, this was a comment made by a poster. I found it interesting:

alancook  8 hours ago

Alan Cook has been pushing his book in the comments sections of all local stories:

FoPa Review... (Proviso Scores Dip)
http://forestparkreview.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=38&ArticleID=4470&TM=58233.81

[Classof67]

Also, this was a comment made by a poster. I found it interesting:

alancook  8 hours ago

  National math test scores continue to be disappointing. This poor trend persists in spite of new texts, standardized tests with attached implied threats, or laptops in the class. At some point, maybe we should admit that math, as it is taught currently and in the recent past, seems irrelevant to a large percentage of grade school kids.

Why blame a sixth grade student or teacher trapped by meaningless lessons? Teachers are frustrated. Students check out.

The missing element is reality. Instead of insisting that students learn another sixteen formulae, we need to involve them in tangible life projects. And the task must be interesting.

A Trip To The Number Yard is a math book focusing on the building of a bungalow. Odd numbered chapters cover the phases of the project: lot layout, foundation, framing, all the way through until the trim out. The even numbered chapters introduce the math needed for the next stage of building and/or reviews the previous lessons.

This type of project-oriented math engages kids. It is fun. They have a reason to learn the math they may have ignored in the standard lecture format of a class room.

If we really want kids to learn math and to have the lessons be valuable, we need to change the mode of teaching. Our kids can master the math that most adults need. We cant continue to have class rooms full of math drudges. Instead, we need to change our teaching tactics with real life projects.

Alan Cook
info@thenumberyard.com
www.thenumberyard.com

While interesting, this book might do well on the shelves at Home Depot.  There are all types of ways to engage children in any subject and teachers are trained to do that along with the proper textbooks.  Children need to be challenged in schools.  Let's not resort to the dumbing down of the kids to meet academic achievement goals.

l did look at the website given for Mr. Cook.  I don't think I would want a guy that installs solar panels for a living teaching math in the schools.  Here are his credentials:

About the Author

Before Alan Cook began building things, he spent many years taking things apart including his entire crib, the braces off his own teeth (twice!) and that hippie farm truck that only made left turns. He worked for many years in construction and cabinet making before switching gears, becoming a chiropractor. Working with patients is great but working with the medical insurance system was making him into a drooling rabid nutso beast. As a result, Al went back to building. He now designs and sells solar hot water systems and uses a lot more math. Al lives in Northern California with his family. They have a big garden and a small orchard. His kids know how to drive a tractor.

Some of Al's goals for the future include: napping on a warm tropical beach, never singing in public or raising cattle again, eating an entire truck load of blueberries (there are witnesses who heard him say this...), dusting off his guitar (and playing it), scoring a few goals in the old guy soccer league, and of course - really cleaning up in his woodshop.

He hopes this book will be helpful to you.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[chandasz]

My concerns are that all of the focus is on the testing and not on the actual teaching.

Obviously- the methods currently in use DO NOT WORK. Isn't it time to change something in the classrooms and not the testing?

Maybe if the curriculum was changed-- something different would happen.

[mustang54]

My concerns are that all of the focus is on the testing and not on the actual teaching.

Obviously- the methods currently in use DO NOT WORK. Isn't it time to change something in the classrooms and not the testing?

Maybe if the curriculum was changed-- something different would happen.

+1 You nailed it!

[Sandy]

Unfortunately, the teachers don't get to do much besides teach the test anymore.

[chandasz]

So, how do things like this get changed? How do the schools that perform better do it? OPRF HS made the top 100 list....