Cairo Association of Teachers - Newsletter



CAT Tracks for January 29, 2003
WHEN "C" ISN'T CAIRO

This article was posted on the IEA website. Thought we had made the news again...

Turns out it's another CHS. However, thought you might be interested in seeing the difference in "rhetoric" when it's NOT Cairo in the spotlight...everyone seems so sympathetic, apologetic, etc.

To paraphrase Kermit the Frog...It's not easy being Cairo!


CHS under academic warning
By Gary Henry
Paris Beacon - Paris, IL
Published online 1/27/03

The placement of Chrisman High School on the state’s Academic Early Warning List, while serious, should not be taken out of perspective.

“The learning standards are fairly new,” said Lee Milner of the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE). “It is a cumulative knowledge with the learning standards and current high school students have not had the advantage of a curriculum designed for the learning standards. As elementary students move up, we should see improvement. That’s what we expect.”

High schools have a single opportunity each year to gauge compliance with the Illinois Learning Standards through the Prairie State Achievement Test (PSAT), which only juniors take. The Prairie State exam also incorporates the college bound ACT test, though not every student taking the PSAT will go on to college.

According to information supplied by the ISBE, state laws provide that schools are placed on the Academic Early Warning List if less than 50 percent of their students fail to meet the state standards for two consecutive years.

Norm Tracy, Chrisman Community Unit School District #6 Superintendent, confirmed that at least 50 percent of Chrisman students taking the PSAT failed to meet the state standards for 2001 and 2002.

“Last year’s class did place higher than the previous year,” Tracy noted.

High school principal Terry Furnish said the district is actively seeking solutions to the problem.

“The low test scores are unacceptable,” said Furnish. “We need to make those scores higher.”

Students were tested in five categories. The first number is the state’s acceptable average score, and the second number is the Chrisman average score: reading, 158/155; math, 157/155; writing, 158/152; science 158/156 and social science, 157/154.

The Chrisman scores were only a few points from the state goal in each category, and that is significant.

Milner explained a close score indicates the school will likely resolve the disparity with little intervention from the ISBE.

“We’re in a budget cutting mode at a time when we’re striving to improve test scores,” said Tracy. “There is no funding to assist school improvement, and consultants cost money.”

Hiring a curriculum consultant was one of the first actions Unit 6 took for improving PSAT scores.

Tracy explained the consultant is helping to identify what each teacher is teaching and how that information relates to lessons at the next grade level. The consultant’s work is expected to provide learning consistency from grade-to-grade and to determine areas where gaps or over-repetition exists in the learning process.

“This is not just a high school problem,” said Tracy. “We need to make changes across all grade levels to prepare the kids as best we can.”

Some possible changes have already been identified.

For example, Furnish said the PSAT includes geometry problems and questions about American government. Those topics have traditionally been senior level classes at Chrisman so the juniors taking the PSAT were tested on material they had not yet covered.

“We found we are teaching the material, but not in sequence for the test,” said Furnish.

Tracy added Chrisman High School may need to rearrange the curriculum by offering more single semester classes or providing instruction in module arrangements.

“We’re not just talking college bound students,” said Tracy. “We have to expose noncollege students who elect not to take geometry to the subject because they have it on the test.”

Other efforts to improve test scores have included in-service and out-of-school workshops for teachers.

Furnish said the district has also encouraged Chrisman teachers to talk to or visit their peers in schools where students have performed well on the PSAT.

Tracy suggested that another option is letting the students take practice tests so they can learn how to pace themselves upon a timed test with multiple sections.

“It’s an ongoing process that won’t be fixed by one step,” Tracy stated.

A difficulty for Unit 6 in making changes was when the state released information about the test results.

Tracy explained the 2002 test results were released to the district after the curriculum was set and classes had started for the 2002 - 2003 school year. “We got the test results in the fall and can’t make changes until next fall,” said Tracy.

That means the present junior class will not have the advantage of any curriculum changes before the students take the test.

Chrisman administrators said the school is attempting to help the students prepare for the upcoming exam, but they admit the effort may be too little, too late for this year.

It is possible Chrisman could move off the warning list next year, if the current junior class does well.

However, a poor performance by the junior class could lead to a further deteroriation in Chrisman High School’s position with the state.

Milner explained that schools move to the Academic Watch list if no progress is made the third year after being placed on Early Warning status. Chrisman is not yet at risk for the Academic Watch status, but such action would expose Unit 6 to more direct ISBE intervention into the district’s academic efforts.

The situation is further complicated by the federal government’s No Child Left Behind program. Under No Child Left Behind, a school that fails to show improvement after three years can be closed for one year while the government fires the entire staff and prepares to open with a new faculty in place.

Milner said the state has the authority to take “extreme action” when schools consistently fail to improve, but the goal is to avoid a state takeover.

“In all cases, school’s are given time to improve,” said Milner.

The Prairie State exam was first administered in 2001 and was almost immediately assailed by some educators as a flawed program.

Confusion about the test and its results still continue.

Tracy explained that originally schools were expected to have at least 40 percent of students meet the learning standards, but the 50 percent demand was an abrupt change in policy.

“That’s a big difference,” Tracy said of the change between the two figures.

Furnish concurred, noting the 40 percent mark would have kept Chrisman from receiving an Academic Warning. He added that 220 schools would have received warnings at the 40 percent level. When the line was moved to 50 percent more than 600 schools were put on the list.

Tracy doubted any meaningful changes or consistency to the PSAT will be forthcoming soon. He said the State Board of Education is in a period of flux as new Gov. Rod Blagojevich decides the board’s future.

The Prairie State is often criticized as having no meaning for students. Passing or failing the PSAT has no bearing on graduating or college admissions. A student who does poorly on the Prairie State can retake the ACT portion seeking a higher score.

“For every action there is a reaction, but for this test, there’s not a reaction for them (students),” said Furnish.

An interesting testing phenomenon exists at Chrisman.

Furnish said the sophomore students take a pre-SAT test and the results often exceed the state average. The next year, as juniors, the same students take the Prairie State exam with disppointing results.

Both Furnish and Tracy said it may be necessary to attach consequences for poor performance onto the Prairie State.

“We might make it part of an exit exam,” said Furnish. “If they don’t score well, they don’t graduate.”

Examinations have been and will continue to be a part of the educational process.

“All students can learn and let’s test all students,” said Tracy. “When we make comparisons across the state, we need to be testing the same audience.”

Story Posted On: 1/27/03