Amidst Test-Score Rancor, Cooperative Efforts at Districts 65 and 202 Show Promise

By Jennie Berkson

Despite spending a significant amount of time debating testing issues at their recent joint meeting, the District 65 and 202 school boards managed to review some of the current efforts to increase inter-district cooperation and to ease the transition of students from eighth to ninth grades.  The criteria used to place students into honors, mixed or regular level classes were also scrutinized.

"Last year we passed two joint district goals," said District 65 Board President Mary Erickson.  "One [was] ... a seamless code of discipline so that there would be no disconnect between the schools in that regard. And giving us more opportunity was a goal about having a smooth transition between eighth grade and ninth grade. Children would be eased into high school.  It would not be ... difficult or jarring ... and parents would understand how children would transition. I think we all felt it was something that both of our districts could do a little work on."

Code of Discipline
Although no presentation was made at the meeting about the "seamless code of discipline" goal, District 202 Superintendent Eric Witherspoon later told the RoundTable that discipline procedures at Evanston Township High School had been reviewed along with District 65 discipline policies to look for consistency from the middle schools to the high school. 

"Our collaborative work has been in the discussions we are having with the middle schools regarding each student," said Dr. Witherspoon. "If a student is having difficulties regarding behavior, we do discuss that so we can personalize our approach as each student transitions to the high school. Our goal is to make the transition to the high school as seamless as possible, and that includes helping students regarding their behavior."

In addition, Assistant Superintendent/Principal Marilyn Madden told the RoundTable, "Dr. Valorie Moore [assistant superintendent of operations at District 65] and the principals from the middle schools met with our assistant principals, deans and me. We shared the "Pilot" [the high school's policy book], their policies, and information on behavior issues that both districts were experiencing with our students. We met three times during the 2006-07 school year, coordinating our efforts for a seamless disciplinary program."

Academic Articulation
Susan Schultz and Laura Cooper, assistant superintendents for curriculum and instruction for District 65 and District 202, respectively, presented a summary of articulation efforts between the two districts. 

"Real articulation efforts matter even more for students who struggle," said Dr. Cooper.  "We have really focused particularly on [the requirements of] students who need all of us to be on the same page."

Literacy Efforts
Ms. Schultz described literacy articulation between the two districts. "We have held joint meetings with our department chairs," she said. "Each team has developed a plan for ongoing communication."

The two districts held a joint data retreat in December, Ms. Schultz reported, which included department chairs, teacher leaders, literacy coaches, representatives from special education, bilingual, science and social studies. The retreat focused on sharing data, strategies and interventions for struggling students as well as plans for integrating literacy into core content areas.

"We did not debate the data," said Ms. Schultz. "We looked at the data and said, ‘What are we going to do now as a result of this data?' There was an openness and a willingness to look at what we could learn from each other." Ms. Schultz said that District 65 will share with District 202 the plans that have been in place for struggling students "so that they will know what interventions have been in place for these students."

Another outcome from the literacy retreat was the formation of a steering committee, which will continue to work on a seamless K-12 curriculum, ongoing collaboration, shared strategies and professional development.

Mathematics Initiatives
"The focus has been, for many years, to get as many kids as possible to finish algebra before they reach eighth grade," said Dr. Cooper, continuing the presentation about collaborative efforts in mathematics.  "We have adopted joint textbooks and have collaborated on the development and scoring of final exams.  If you've taken 1Algebra, it doesn't matter where you've taken it - you've taken the same course."

Dr. Cooper reported that the percentage of students who start at ETHS with a course beyond Algebra 1 has increased in recent years from 42.3% in 2005-06 to 49.5% in 2007-08.  "We're moving in the right direction," she said.

Easing the Transition
The transition from eighth grade to ninth grade has been a topic of discussion by a newly formed committee consisting of the two Board presidents, Ms. Erickson from District 65 and Martha Burns from District 202; Board members Keith Terry (D65) and Omar Khuri (D202); and superintendents Dr. Witherspoon and Dr. Hardy Murphy (D65). 

"We didn't want to meet just to discuss things. We wanted to create something to demystify the process," said Mr. Khuri.

The committee has produced a draft of a brochure that describes the transition process; it will eventually be distributed to all District 65 students. A calendar details significant dates. Important telephone numbers are listed. Each step of the transition process is outlined, from a description of the components of the profile that is compiled about each student, selection of courses at freshman orientation, placement procedures and August meetings among incoming freshmen, parents and counselors.

The brochure also describes summer "bridge" opportunities at the high school.  The recently developed course, "Access ETHS" which introduces students to the operations at the high school, study skills, literacy and test taking strategies, is highlighted, along with a description of the various academic support programs such as STAE, Project EXCEL, the Academic Youth Development Program and AVID.

Changing the Placement Process
The placement process, which determines whether students will be assigned to honors, mixed-level or regular classes at the high school, became a focus of attention last fall when District 202 Board members expressed great concern about the consistently low levels of minority students in honors classes.

Mr. Terry asked Richard Bowers, associate principal for grades 9/10, what weight was given to the variety of variables which go into the placement decision. 

"The highest priority is the history of achievement using the EXPLORE scores ... and the input from District 65," said Dr. Bowers. 

"The parents' comments are anecdotal, the students' comments are anecdotal, of course, but we really so heavily rely upon the lead teachers from the feeder buildings to tell us if they feel the students are going to be adequately challenged, and supported by the programs we're going to place them in. Our most lengthy conversations are about students where test scores are inconsistent," he added.

Mr. Terry asked if there was a different set of considerations for African-American students who "could go to honors and those who didn't make it in." Dr. Bowers responded that "race is never discussed except in those focused support programs that need to focus specifically on minority students."

"Maybe race needs to be part of the discussion," said Mr. Terry.

"We know there are many, many more students who can handle more rigorous courses," said Dr. Witherspoon.  He said that a "richer set of criteria" will be used to place students beginning next fall.

"In terms of placement, I do believe that Dr. Witherspoon is going to begin making ETHS more representative of the students that are in the building ... in the next year and that's something we can all celebrate," said Ms. Burns, referring to the imbalance of representation of minority students in honors classes.  "Students will learn side by side with each other.  I could not support him if I thought he would do otherwise," she added.

Remarking on future plans, Ms. Erickson said the joint 65/202 Board committee would continue its efforts to focus on the goal that "the two districts can work together to ensure that a student who is successful in one district can also be successful in the other district."

The Test-Score Dilemma at Districts 65 and 202

By Larry Gavin

Test scores dominated a large part of the joint meeting of the District 65 and 202 School Boards held on Jan. 14. A focal point was the difference in how District 65 eighth-graders perform on the Illinois Standard Achievement Test (ISAT) and on the EXPLORE test.

Paul Brinson, director of information services at District 65, presented data showing that District 65 students, particularly black and Hispanic students, have made substantial gains on the ISATs over the past five years. For example, the percentage of black eighth-graders who met standards in reading increased from 43% in 2004 to 73% in 2007. For Hispanic eighth-graders, the percentage increased from 46% in 2004 to 80% in 2007.

Viewed another way, Mr. Brinson said that the percentage of black eighth-graders performing in the top half of students nationally in reading increased from 37% in 2003 to 60% in 2007. For Hispanic students the percentage increased from 44% in 2003 to 71% in 2007.

While the performance of District 65 eighth-graders on the ISAT has improved substantially, they have not shown gains on the EXPLORE test, which is given to eighth-graders each December. Dr. Judith Levinson, director of research, evaluation and assessment at District 202, presented data showing that the average scale score (the standard-based score) for black and Hispanic eighth-graders on the EXPLORE test has been generally flat over the last six years.

On a normative basis, Dr. Levinson reported that the percentage of black eighth-grade students performing in the top half nationally in reading on the EXPLORE test dropped from 50% in 2003 to 49% in 2007. For Hispanic eighth-graders, there was a decrease from 63% in 2003 to 58% in 2007. Dr. Levinson said, "This is a different pattern than what you saw for the ISATs."

Dr. Levinson also presented results for eighth-graders on the Measure of Academic Progress (MAP) test, which was given by District 65 in 2007. On that test, 45% of District 65's black eighth-graders and 43% of the District's Hispanic eighth-graders performed in the top half nationally in reading. These percentages are 15 and 28 points lower than those for black and Hispanic students on the 2007 ISATs. Researchers used the MAP test in a study called the "Proficiency Illusion" to conclude that a substantial portion of the higher pass rates on the ISAT is due to changes made to the test in 2006. See Oct. 17 issue of the RoundTable.

The table below summarizes the percentage of black and Hispanic eighth-graders who performed in the top half nationally in reading on the ISAT, EXPLORE and MAP tests in 2007:

Test          Black   Hispanic
ISAT            60           71
EXPLORE  49          58
MAP            45          43

District 65 Board member Mary Rita Luecke said, "One of the key issues here is this discrepancy in the EXPLORE test and eighth grade ISATs. They're both taken by eighth-grade students a few months apart. But we're seeing very different results."

"It would be valuable for us to look at and understand what the results of the EXPLORE test tell us about our instructional program and where we want to make changes," she added.

District 65 Superintendent Hardy Murphy said that the ISATs are the State-mandated tests used to measure progress under the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). "The ISATs are more closely aligned with State standards than the EXPLORE test," he said. "There is a problem with changing our instructional program, which is closely aligned with State standards," in order to improve performance on the EXPLORE test.

Dr. Murphy added that the EXPLORE test was a normative test which measures how students are performing in relation to other students, and he did not think it would be useful in evaluating the District's curriculum.

Dr. Levinson acknowledged that the EXPLORE test was a normative test, but said that it is also a standards-based test and that it provides standards-based scores. Dr. Levinson said the EXPLORE test is aligned with the Illinois Learning Standards, that it is directly aligned with the ACT, and that the ACT is given as part of the Prairie State Achievement Tests (PSAEs). The PSAEs are the State-mandated tests used to measure progress under NCLB, and are given to students at the 11th-grade level.

Dr. Levinson added that District 202 uses the EXPLORE test to "identify students who are going to need special interventions, who are at risk of not making it on the Prairie State tests [PSAEs]."

District 202 Board member Omar Khuri asked, "What is the purpose, what is the vision, what is it that District 65 is hoping to do with its students? Is it to prepare them to meet State standards? Is it to prepare them for the next place in their life? If it is - and I believe it is to prepare them for the next place in their life - the next place of life is matriculation into the high school." He added that the high school attempts to prepare students for college and the job market.

Dr. Murphy said, "Of course the vision is for students to be prepared for success in life." He said, though, that the State has adopted standards that determine what students should know at various grade levels to be prepared in life, and the State measures how well students are prepared through the ISAT.

An issue is whether the ISAT or EXPLORE is a better measure of preparedness for high school. Dr. Laura Cooper, assistant principal for curriculum and instruction at District 202, said most high schools in the state and virtually all of the high schools in the metropolitan area use EXPLORE because it feeds into the ACT, which is part of the PSAE. She said the ACT has become the predominant college admission test nationally.

Dr. Levinson also presented data showing ETHS 11th-graders results on the 2007 PSAE. Only 33% of black students and 27% of Hispanic students met standards in reading. In math, 35% of black students and 36% of Hispanic students met standards.

District 65 Board member Keith Terry said, "This is a crisis. There are no pointing fingers. I'm embarrassed. ... What can we do to make this better? The status quo is no longer acceptable."

Bonnie Lockhart said, "African-American students are not doing well. The gap is closing at District 65. But in District 202 it seems like it's widening."

Addressing why fewer minority students meet standards on the PSAEs than the ISATs, Dr. Levinson said the PSAEs "have very high standards and it is not really well-aligned with ISAT."

On a statewide basis, the percentage of students who meet standards on the PSAEs is substantially less than the percentage who meet standards on the ISATs. For example, the percentage of black students in the State who met standards in reading dropped from 48% on the 2004 ISATs (as eighth-graders) to 28% on the 2007 PSAEs (as 11th-graders).

Dr. Eric Witherspoon, District 202 superintendent, said, "There is gain, there is measurable gain at ETHS. What is difficult is to accelerate that gain. We're not closing that gap, or we're minimally closing the gap. That's the real challenge. ... One thing we're fond of saying at the high school is, ‘If not here, where? If not now, when?'" Dr. Witherspoon added. "There's an urgency about this. There's a huge urgency."

D65 Strategic Planning

By Larry Gavin

The District 65 School Board will hold its strategic planning meeting on Saturday morning, Feb. 23. As a prelude to the meeting, on Feb. 11 the administration will present to the Board a report that summarizes where the District stands in meeting the goals of the five-year strategic plan it adopted in June 2002.

Superintendent Hardy Murphy said the 2002 strategic plan was a "management plan," which "has provided a framework for all of our efforts." He said the District has accomplished 90 to 95 percent of what was contemplated in that plan, which is now in its final year.

At the Board's Jan. 8 meeting, two subcommittees, one composed of Bonnie Lockhart and Jerome Summers, the other, of Katie Bailey and Keith Terry, outlined ways the Board could approach the strategic planning process. Both subcommittees agreed that the current strategic plan should be the jumping-off point.

Ms. Lockhart said, "It's important to look at what's already in place. We need to know where the District is in relation to the current strategic plan. It's really hard to move forward with a strategic plan without knowing the efforts and place where we're at with the current strategic plan."

Mr. Terry said, "We should assess where we are for two reasons. First, perhaps we fall short of a goal, and we can pick up and keep going. Second, in the event we achieved it, that doesn't mean that we can't start from that place to continue to make it better."

Unlike the 2002 plan, which contained goals and listed detailed strategies and timetables to implement each goal, it appears that this time the Board will describe in broad-brush terms how they want the District to look in five years and then let the administration fill in how to get there.

"What we [the administration] want you guys to say to us is how you want to see the school system and the community over the next five years," Dr. Murphy told members of the Board. "And then what we'll do is say to you, ‘Okay, we see that too, and these are the strategies we want to use to get there.'"

Board president Mary Erickson said, "I understand exactly what Dr. Murphy is saying. We give him the vision; we give him the direction; and then the administration says this is how you get there."

Ms. Bailey said that Board members, with the help of a facilitator, could paint a picture of where they want the District to be in five years in specific areas, such a special education, financial health, curriculum and instruction, programs such as the Two-Way Immersion program and the African-centered curriculum, and capital improvement.

Members of both subcommittees emphasized the need for obtaining community input. Ms. Lockhart said, "This has to be an all-inclusive process." She suggested a number of town-hall meetings. Ms. Bailey agreed, "The community needs to be involved." She suggested the Board obtain community input through internet surveys and other ways.

The Board reached a consensus that at the Feb. 23 meeting, they will reaffirm the District's mission and value statements, and then begin the process of describing in broad terms where they want the District to be in specific areas in five to ten years. The Board will take public comment during the meeting.  Dr. Murphy said, "If the conversation is about possibilities, then this can be an invigorating experience for the Board and for our administrators and our teachers."

BEST Transitions For the Future

Evanston Township High School will participate in the sixth annual "Transitions for the Future" event, a resource fair for students with special needs from 6:30-8:30 p.m. on Feb. 6 at the Golf Mill Shopping Center in Niles.

 The fair is designed to assist students with special needs in developing realistic transition plans for life after high school.

More than 50 representatives will be on hand to share information about apprenticeship and vocational programs, appropriate schools, employment and governmental programs, health services, legal resources, residential options and transportation resources.

 The event, which is free of charge, is organized by Business and Education for Students in Transition (BEST), a local transition-planning committee comprised of several area high school districts, including ETHS, schools for special needs students, and state and local service agencies.