D65 Reports On Steps Taken To Improve Achievement of African-American Students

By Larry Gavin

At the Aug. 6 District 65 School Board meeting, Susan Schultz, assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction, presented a report outlining the steps taken to implement six strategies the Board had unanimously approved in March 2006 to improve the achievement of African-American students on a District-wide basis.

The strategies were recommended by the African American Student Achievement Committee (AASAC), which was composed of District 65 administrators, teachers, parents and community members.

The strategies include increasing the use of culturally responsive and multicultural materials in the classroom, providing training to teachers to increase culturally responsive instruction, increasing the number of African-American teachers, and increasing parental involvement.

Culturally responsive textbooks
To ensure that the District's curriculum materials are culturally responsive, the administration conducted an audit of the textbooks and other materials used to teach reading at the K-8 grade levels and to teach social studies in the middle schools. Ms. Schultz' report said the audit of the reading materials included an examination of the author's ethnicity and gender as well as the ethnicity of characters within the stories. The social studies textbooks were examined to determine if the content and illustrations featured characters of diverse social, economic and ethnic backgrounds.

According to the audit of the District's new reading textbooks, 41 percent of the characters are white, 21 percent are African-American, 21 percent are Hispanic, 13 percent are Asian American, and 3 percent are Native American. The new textbooks, published by McMillan/McGaw-Hill, were approved by the Board in June 2006 and were first used in the 2006-07 school year.

The administration's rationale for recommending the new reading textbooks included that the series met all of the requirements of the National Reading Panel and that "the literature represents a broad range of classic, contemporary, and multicultural literature."

The District's audit also concluded that the books used during guided reading, shared reading and read-alouds exposed students to different ethnic groups and that they "are diverse in terms of ethnicity, gender and text genre."

The audit concluded that the District's social studies textbooks used at the middle-school level during the 2006-07 school year were not as culturally responsive as more current texts. In March 2007, the administration recommended that the world history and American history textbooks used at middle school be replaced with new textbooks published by Holt. The Board approved that recommendation on April 23.

While the primary reasons given to change the textbooks were that they were purchased in 1999 and were outdated, they were practically unusable due to heavy use, and the curriculum had been modified to reflect current social studies research, a memorandum prepared by Erin Murphy, social studies department chair, said the rational for changing textbooks was, "The original [world history] curriculum had a very Eurocentric viewpoint, although some African civilizations were covered.... By adjusting the curriculum to incorporate Europe, Africa, Asia and Latin America in equal measures we were better able to emphasize the development and importance of all regions, thus better reflecting the student body." The curriculum will also incorporate a unit on comparative religions because students "are hearing so much on the news about religious conflicts, it became essential for students to understand these religions."

Ms. Murphy's memo also said, "Curriculum revisions were made [in American history] in order to take a more culturally relevant point of view, as well as to show students multiple points of view. By making our history curriculum more 20th-Century-‘heavy,' we are provided with opportunities to show students how history impacts them. In order to do that, more than just slavery needs to be portrayed. This new curriculum provides content on Native Americans, people of Latin American, African and Asian descent, and women."

Ms. Schultz said that new social studies textbooks will be selected this year for fourth- and fifth-grade social studies, and the District will "ensure that these materials are culturally relevant." The new books will likely be used starting in September 2008.

In addition to the audit of textbooks, the District gave each school librarian $1,000 last year to spend on multicultural books. Each librarian was also given $4 per student to purchase multicultural books; this amount will continue in future years. Librarians were also given lists of suggested multicultural books.

Culturally responsive teachers
Several strategies approved by the Board focus on recruiting more African-American teachers and training all teachers to provide culturally responsive instruction. Seventeen percent of the District's teachers were African-American in the 2006-07 school year; 38 percent of the student body was African-American.

In an effort to recruit more African-American teachers, Ms. Schultz' report said the District made recruitment trips to universities in Florida, Texas and Mississippi and to a teacher fair in Georgia; the District held its second annual diversity teacher fair in April 2007, at which potential candidates had an opportunity to receive information about the District and interview principals; and the District implemented a new teacher introduction/mentoring program which is designed to support and retain minority teachers.

Ms. Schultz said the National Building Coalition Institute (NBCI) provided sensitivity training to a "team" from each of the District's schools in January 2007 and NBCI's model was "very well received." This year the District plans to train all school social workers as trainers for the NBIC Diversity Workshop, and the social workers will begin to provide diversity-training workshops at their schools.

In addition, teachers who have been successful in teaching African-American students will be identified, Ms. Schultz said. They will be asked "to use their talents and expertise to work with other teachers."

Board member Bonnie Lockhart asked that the Board be provided with periodic reports showing the progress of these efforts.

Parent participation
Last year all schools joined the National Network of Partnership Schools, sponsored by Johns Hopkins University. Each school identified a parent involvement team and the team participated in a one-day training program on the network's approach to increase parent involvement. Each school developed a tentative one-year action plan for parent involvement which will be implemented this school year.

Ms. Schultz said the work done last year to improve parent involvement was "very preliminary" and that "we will be doing it full-force next year."

Other issues
Several Board members asked whether the District was using the most effective reading model to teach African-American students. Ms. Schultz responded that the recent reading adoption coupled with the District's intervention programs provided the best model to reach students at their level. This issue may be addressed in more detail in subsequent meetings and in discussing the Board's goal concerning differentiation of instruction.

D65 Administrators Give Positive Report on the African-Centered Curriculum

By Larry Gavin

School District 65 administrators gave a positive report on the African-Centered Curriculum (ACC) at the Board's Aug. 6 meeting. Dr. Valorie Moore, assistant superintendent of operations, said the report was based on interviews and meetings with ACC teachers and observations of the program.

Superintendent Hardy Murphy said, "Teachers in the program were expanding the children's horizons and teaching them they can succeed."

The ACC was started last year as a pilot program at Oakton School. In its first year, Dr. Moore said the program had a total of 49 students, 20 in kindergarten, 15 in first grade, and 14 in second grade. The program will expand this year to include the third-grade level. Dr. Murphy said while there is some transience, the cohorts seem to be holding for next year.

So far, nine kindergarteners have enrolled in the ACC program for next year. Paul Brinson, director of information services, said only 50 to 55 percent of the anticipated kindergartners in the District have enrolled at this time, so there are still a large number of kindergartners who may opt into the ACC program.

Dr. Moore said ACC students began the day with a morning routine that focused on the principles of Ma'at and the Nguzo Saba (a set of seven principles, such as unity and faith). Students recited the Virtues of Order and Balance, recited the ACC Creed, sang the Black National Antherm and discussed characteristics needed to be a successful student. Dr. Moore said, "Teachers felt the morning routine was the cornerstone of ACC.... According to teachers, students entered school ready to learn, serious about their schoolwork, and motivated to do their best."

ACC students were taught reading and writing using the District's standard curriculum, but the curriculum was enriched with African and African-American literature, said Dr. Moore. First- and second-graders wrote essays and reports on Africa, its culture, and African-Americans.

For social studies, students read books on various careers and wrote reports on career choices; they focused on the principles of Nguzo Saba and Kwanzaa; they studied prominent African-Americans and the contributions they made to society; they studied the geography, culture, language, music, art and traditions of Africa; and they discussed elders and ancestors, said Dr. Moore.

The math and science curriculum also attempted to infuse African-American resources, including contributions by Africans and African-Americans. Examples include lessons on ancient Egyptian number systems and using African math games.

The ACC was located in what was formerly the kindergarten wing at Oakton School. Dr. Moore said, "According to staff, being contained in one wing allowed them to develop a sense of community and unity that would have been difficult to achieve had their classrooms been separated." Dr. Moore added, "Students were given many opportunities to experience the diversity of the school during the school day," including in fine arts and gym, all-school assemblies, field trips, and other events.

For the coming year, the administration recommends focusing more instructional time on reading, math and writing; practicing pull-in and push-out reading groups; continuing professional development; hiring a new ACC parent liaison; and various other steps.

Board members expressed concern about the low number of ACC students enrolled in kindergarten and suggested the administration use additional resources to increase awareness of the program and its enrollment.

Board members also questioned how they would assess the program. When it approved the program, the Board adopted a number of criteria to use to evaluate the program. Dr. Murphy said the litmus test, however, would be how last year's kindergartners did as third-graders on the ISATs. Keith Terry questioned whether the test should be how they performed as fifth-graders on the ISATs. Sharon Sheehan said there were variables, such as the small class sizes in the ACC program, which may make a comparison of the program to the District's regular curriculum difficult.

D65 Shows Improvement on the 2007 ISATs

A report presented to the Board concerning District 65's bilingual education program reported how the District did as a whole in reading and math on the 2007 ISATs. The percentage of all students who met or exceeded standards in reading on the 2007 ISATs was 82.9 percent, up from 79.2 percent in the prior year. The percent of all students who met or exceeded standards in math was 89.4 percent, up from 87 percent in the prior year.

It is anticipated that the Board will discuss ISAT results at an upcoming meeting

TWI Program Update

By Larry Gavin

The Two-Way Immersion (TWI) program is projected to have a total of 32 classes at the K-5 grade levels next year at Dawes (6), Dewey (5), Oakton (7), Willard (2), and Washington (12) schools. The Transitional Bilingual Program will be provided in grades six through eight at Chute, Haven and Nichols. A "newcomer" program will be provided to meet the needs of recent, Spanish-speaking immigrants who have limited or no English.

A report presented to the Board on Aug. 6 concluded that "there has been substantial improvement in achievement in LEP (limited-English proficient) students in the last two years." District figures show that the percentage of LEP students who met or exceeded standards on State assessments in reading has increased from 31 percent in 2003 to 71 percent in 2007 and that in math it has increased from 41 percent in 2003 to 72 percent in 2007.

Paul Brinson, director of information services, said, "The gap between LEP students and other students in the District has been substantially closed."

Low Graduation Rates a Concern for ETHS

By Jennie Berkson

At a time of year when the reality of a new school year has just begun to dawn on many students, Evanston Township High School administrators are reviewing recent graduation statistics and making plans for improvement.

"It's not as good as we'd like it to be," said Bruce Romain, ETHS assistant principal, referring to the 89.1-percent graduation rate for the class of 2007.

"We are ahead of state and national averages," he said, "but we feel we should be way above those. We're concerned." The graduation rate, and some approaches the District is taking to improve it, were presented to the school board on July 16.

A review of the District's graduation rates over the past 10 years published in the Illinois State Board of Education's report card shows that the ETHS rate, which is the percent of students who start together as freshmen and who finish in four years, has ranged from a low of 89.8 to a high of 92.5. That would put the most recent graduation rate as the lowest in ten years. Six hundred and fifty-nine students received their ETHS diplomas in 2007.

Administrators said many factors influence the low rate. For example, the District began a concerted effort last year to ensure that "students in every grade who have not achieved the credits required for a given grade level are now reclassified downward to the grade level reflected by their current grade earnings," according to the report on student achievement released last February. Students must have 12 or more credits to be a sophomore, 24 or more credits to be a junior, 36 or more credits to be a senior and 48 or more to graduate. "This change in procedure has sent a serious message to students that coursework is important and that the privileges of upperclassmen must be earned," the report stated. It has also resulted in fewer students graduating in four years.

"Students do come back for a fifth year, and we encourage that. If you're working towards your credits, and in one more year you can graduate ..." said Superintendent Eric Witherspoon. "But they won't be counted with the next class and they won't be counted with the class they started with."

The Illinois School Report Card reports graduation rates broken down by gender and race, and it also includes rates for students with limited English proficiency, students with disabilities and those who are economically disadvantaged. Males (86.6 percent), blacks (83.3 percent), multiracial students (88.9 percent), students with limited English proficiency (60 percent), students with disabilities (70.3 percent) and economically disadvantaged students (79.7 percent) all had graduation rates below the ETHS average.

Some explanation was provided for the low graduation rates for students with disabilities and those with limited English proficiency. "Some students with an IEP (individual educational plan) chose to stay here until they are 21 to continue to receive additional services," said Mr. Romain. "That number is alarming, but it is not as serious as it looks."

Laura Cooper, assistant superintendent for curriculum, remarked that students with limited English proficiency often take longer to graduate because they must complete a full year of English beyond ESL in order to obtain an ETHS diploma.

Mr. Romain and Marilyn Madden, assistant superintendent/principal outlined the many procedures used to monitor and guide students through their tenure at ETHS and to help them stay on track to graduate. Numerous meetings between counselors, students and parents occur throughout the four years. Interim reports are sent "to indicate student progress/achievement and are monitored by the counselors. Counselors look for students struggling or significant grade changes," they said, adding that all students meet with their counselors annually to "review their credit check and graduation plan."

In the junior year, said administrators, "counselors meet with each student and their parent/guardian for a course-credit-recovery plan, to discuss the impact of their grades, adjust graduation plans when necessary and post-graduate plans." According to the report, 75percent of parents/guardians attend these meetings.

"Do parents have this on the front end before they (the students) get to the dangerous area?" asked Board President Martha Burns. Mr. Romain confirmed that this was so.

"Students who are willing to let us help them and are willing to make the effort, 99percent of them are going to make it," said Mr. Romain. "The ones who struggle are the ones who don't come. The ones who do no work, they don't come for support. Usually there's a story behind it. There are extenuating circumstances that make it difficult for them to understand and do school."

However, he said it was also a challenge to involve parents. "The biggest roadblock is finding meaningful ways to make parents feel comfortable to come here as allies."

Ms. Madden emphasized the importance of the new school structure, System of Supports. Under the new approach, students with a grade of D or F in a class will be mandated to come to school one-half hour earlier in the morning to receive additional support and assistance with their studies.

"People won't fall through the cracks," said Ms. Madden. "We're saying we're not going to let you just stay there and fail. We're going to continue to bother you (the students)

Building Education in Angola

By Elizabeth Foydel

Evanston resident Larissa Mulholland recently spent three weeks volunteering with RISE International in Angola. As one of 14 volunteers, she traveled to three sites in different provinces and worked to train about 250 teachers in the war-torn African nation.

Teacher training through ten workshops focused on such topics as health education, leadership, community planning and resource management, all of which will help local Angolan teachers and administrators to more effectively piece together the educational system. "Everyone in Angola has been drastically affected by the conflict that raged in the country for so many years," said Ms. Mulholland. "The infrastructure of Angola is really destroyed, and there is terrible poverty, especially in rural areas."

Ms. Mulholland, who teaches at Columbia College in Chicago in the Early Education Department, also attended a school dedication, visited several schools and villages and worked on building school facilities. In the photo above, RISE International volunteers work with local Angolans to construct a school building.