Looking for the perfect Holiday gift?

Looking for the perfect gift? Look no further. Please consider making a tax deductible donation to help fund a project for Berwyn students by participating in the Berwyn CARES / Donors Choose 'Berwyn Challenge'! Please visit the Berwyn CARES website to see how you can make a difference!

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As a token of our appreciation we have designed special gift tags that you can print and include in your holiday cards.

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Please provide a quote about Berwyn's Schools

I am preparing a proposal to the District 100 school board and administrators about recommendations for improved community relations, including suggestions to help improve the perceptions of District 100 schools. I'd like to include a summary, or baseline, of perceptions today.

Would you please let me know what you think about Berwyn's schools? Or what you've heard others say about Berwyn's schools? This does not have to be specific to District 100, but if it is, please indicate. Also, please let me know if you have children who are in or have attended District 100 schools. It would be interesting to compare perceptions of those in the school community and those outside.

I'd like to include your comments and whether or not you have children in District 100 schools, but I will NOT INCLUDE your name or email address (if you'd like to keep this confidential and not post to the Blog, please feel free to email me direct at rrammien@hotmail.com).

I appreciate the dialogue. Thank you!

BerwynCARES and the Berwyn Arts Council Bloggers Challenge

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Oklahoma!

The Morton West Music and Theatre Departments Proudly present Rodgers
and Hammerstein's Oklahoma! This weekend Nov 15-18th, Th, F, and S at 7pm and
Sunday at 2pm at the Morton West Theatre, 2400 S. Home Avenue. The
theatre department at MW is very good and would really appreciate the
support of the community! I'm not sure what the admission is ($5-
$10?), but I'm sure it will be worth it. Check out these very talented and dedicated young artists!

Test Scores

Berwyn Schools’ Test Scores Increase Slightly

This week the Illinois Board of Education released the standardized test scores for all schools in their annual report cards. The two Berwyn elementary districts (North Berwyn District 98 and South Berwyn District 100) and Morton West High School report slight gains in the percentage of students meeting or exceeding standards:


District 98 and 100:


The latest ISAT scores for our elementary school districts show slight gains in achievement.

It is important to note that the scores of Berwyn elementary schools have been steadily improving while, at the very same time, the numbers of low-income and minority students have been steadily
increasing.

This makes the gains all that more impressive, as the achievement gap between minority and non-minority and low-income and middle class/wealthy students exists nationwide. For a lengthy discussion on the achievement gap in the U.S., read the November 2006 New York Times Article, "What It Takes to Make a Student" by Paul Tough.


Our schools also face challenges such as high mobility rates, increasing enrollment, and increasing "Limited English Proficient" population typical of lower performing schools. It is for this reason that many of the Berwyn elementary schools have been named "Spotlight Schools" by the Illinois State Board of Education. Spotlight schools are recognized as schools that "exhibit achievements that are contrary to the conventional wisdom that test scores will reflect demographics despite local efforts."


Examining the individual school report card will give you much more information than just the overall ISAT scores. There is data that compares demographics, gender, and income levels at each grade and subject. For example, 94.7% of Jefferson 3rd graders who are NOT eligible for free/reduced lunch met or exceeded state standards in math compared to only 82% of those eligible.

In District 100, 84% of white 7th graders met or exceeded reading standards while only 74.5% of Hispanic students did.

This information is meant to inspire solutions to the national achievement gap. Even the staunchest critics of the Federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2002 have conceded that a benefit to the controversial law is the unprecedented attention that has been paid to the achievement levels of various subgroups. By separating out the test scores of various subgroups, schools will be able to better examine teaching practices, curriculum and programming and make educational decisions such that ALL students have the opportunity to succeed.


There is a wide range of scores in Berwyn schools. The highest performing elementary school in Berwyn is Emerson with 84.7% of students meeting or exceeding standards.

Indeed, Emerson outscores 5 of the 8 elementary schools in Oak Park, which spends about $3500 more per pupil than District 100 and about $4700 more than
District 98.

Schools that showed significant gains in the number of students meeting or exceeding state standards include Jefferson, Havlicek, Freedom and Komensky.

Morton West:

With only 35.9% of students meeting or exceeding standards, Morton West continues to score well below the state average of 73.8%.

The average ACT test score fell to 17.5 from 18.4 the previous year. These scores highlight the urgent needs of our school and the challenges we face in moving forward.

First, the administration must better align the curriculum with the state standards.

Morton High School District 201, with an enrollment of over 8000 students, has been without a curriculum director for about 2 years!

There is clearly a need to more closely align the curriculum with the state standards. Without a highly qualified and experienced Curriculum Director to lead this effort, there is little hope that scores on standardized tests will improve significantly.

Second, we need to increase the number of AP classes offered at Morton West. At a recent BerwynCARES/All Berwyn Committee meeting that featured Berwyn teachers and administrators, Dr. Nowakowski, District 201 Superintendent, and John Lucas, principal of Morton West high school, took questions about curriculum.

Dr. Nowakowski stated that there are 3x as many students at Morton East taking Advanced Placement classes.

When asked why, Dr. Nowakowski took responsibility saying that it was up to him to put the structure in place (add more AP classes) and then rely on teachers and parents to enroll students.

Third, more counselors should be hired. Dr. Nowakowski stated that the counselor case loads can be up to 340 kids.

It is no wonder that an independent consultant recently reported that less than 6% of students complete the core curriculum at Morton.

We need more counselors to assist students and their parents in registering for appropriate and challenging classes, assuming that the administration will offer those classes.

Lastly, the School Board must consider extending the school day so that Morton students have the same opportunities to learn as most other students in the state.

Currently, Morton has one of the shortest school days in the state and our students have 1 less class per day than most other schools in the area.

See previous blog post on Priorities of District 201 for more suggested changes/goals.

Of course, all of these suggested tactics would cost taxpayer time and money. One of the biggest challenges we face when attempting to fix or improve the quality of education at Morton West is our own community. Morale is low, mobility is high, and voter apathy is staggering. The Morton community voted against a tax increase 3 times. At first glance, this might communicate to the world that we are a community against funding education. In fact, we are worse…a community without an opinion.

In the February 2007 election, the last election in which the referendum was on the ballot, only 2718 Berwyn voters cast a vote.

I point this out not to suggest that we should or shouldn’t increase taxes, but that we must care if we do or don’t. Our community was largely indifferent, uninterested. In the April 2007 School Board elections, only 4,000 out of 25,000 registered Berwyn voters came out to the polls. If we are to demand more from our students, more from our administrators, more from our School Board, we must demand more from ourselves. And that means MORE than just voting. It means inspiring others to vote. It means seeking out information and suggesting solutions.

Without a significant change/improvement in the quality of our high school,
Berwyn will continue to lag its neighbors as a destination suburb.

Our property values will be impacted. Our neighborhoods will never reach their full potential. Fixing the problems at Morton West is no small task, but there is hope and it is possible.

If we give up on Morton West, we give up on Berwyn.

2nd Annual Berwyn CARES Kids Concert

The 2nd annual BerwynCARES Kids Concert will be on Saturday, November 10th at 3:00 pm at Fitzgerald's Nightclub. Tickets are only $5!! This year's lineup includes the Boogers and Mr. Matt and Joe the Show, all Berwyn residents with years of experience in the music industry. We are thrilled to hear these serious rockers perform some classic kids' favorites. The kids will be rockin' ...and so will YOU!! You can purchase tickets online at BerwynCARES.org or you can go to Over the Rainbow Ice Cream Shop (6836 Windsor, Berwyn). After the show, there will be some family-friendly appetizer specials provided by Wishbone at The Sidebar next door.

We are looking for volunteers and hope you can help. Community participation is important to ensure a successful event. Remember, 100% of proceeds will go to directly to the school districts in the form of mini-grants for Berwyn teachers. Please, consider helping in any of the following ways:

1. Commit to selling at least 10 tickets for the concert
2. Pass out 4x6 postcards to trick-or-treators on Halloween
3. Distribute flyers to area businesses in the western suburbs
4. BUY TICKETS!!

Contact Shelley Titzer at titzers@yahoo.com asap if you are able to volunteer in anyway. Any and all help is greatly appreciated. Thanks!!

http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/22054

District 201 Priorities by Shelley Titzer

During the last District 201 Board Meeting, there were two presentations. In my opinion, one received too much attention while the other received too little. I was not at the meeting, but people who were present reported that while there was some outrage expressed regarding the possible implementation of a school uniform policy, there was little reaction to the High Schools that Work Consulting group's findings.

The Board of Education would like to formulate a school uniform policy. A motion was made that the administration should formulate a school uniform policy to be implemented on the first day of the second semester starting in January; that a public hearing on school uniforms should be called before the November board meeting to discuss type and color of the uniforms and that a vote on a school uniform policy should occur at the next board meeting in November. This motion prompted many audience comments against uniforms from parents and students of Morton West. One of the main concerns is the timing, as the Board is planning to implement this uniform policy in the middle of the school year rather than at the beginning of the next.

While I do not have a strong opinion one way or the other about school uniforms, I find it most interesting that this is the issue that has apparently grabbed the attention of an otherwise apathetic population. Admittedly 40-50 people at a Board Meeting for a School District that serves 8,000+ students isn't that impressive, still that is about 5 times the usual 5-10 people that regularly attend the Board Meetings.

The 2nd presentation at the Board Meeting inspired little or no discussion or questioning from the audience or the School Board. Last spring, the school board hired a consulting group called High Schools That Work to conduct a study of District 201. According to the report, there has been no increase in student achievement, fewer assignments are given to students, less than 6% of students complete the core curriculum, 30% of all students taking a math course fail, and 59% of assignments given to students are below the proficiency level. This information, along with low ACT scores, a high drop-out rate, a yearly defecit of $5million dollars or more, and 10+ year old textbooks, gives our community so many reasons to be outraged!

Both Berwyn elementary school districts (98 and 100)have been in the process of long-term strategic planning involving community members. WITH INPUT FROM COMMUNITY MEMBERS, those districts have been able to prioritize needs. Perhaps District 201 will consider engaging community members in a similar process to prioritize the needs of the high school district. Here are some possible goals that might be considered:

1. Balance the Budget. Explore ways to generate new revenue and reduce spending. Consider studying the feasibility of forming unit districts so that each municipality can control their own tax revenue as it effects the schools (including referenda, TIF decisions, etc.) and possibly consolidate their resources through K-12 education systems.

2. Increase graduation rate. The current graduation rate is 69.4%. In addition to setting this goal, consider negotiating a longer school day (+50 minutes) for all students when the next teacher contract is negotiated. Though our students are held to the same standards as all others in the state in terms of how many credits are needed to graduate, they have less opportunity as they are only able to earn a total of 24 credits over the 4 years in the regular school day. While we have one of the shortest school days in the state, our neighboring districts give the opportuntiy for students to take one extra class each day (4 extra credits over 4 years). Extending the school day would be the most effective way to boost the graduation rate and every student in the district would benefit. The bottom line is that Morton students can take 6 classes per day, while OPRF, RB, LT and most other districts require their students to take 7.

3. Increase the percentage of students going to college. Explore the possibility of other models besides the Freshman Center idea when considering relieving overcrowding at West. A magnet school, Math and Science Academy, Language Arts Center or some other academic model should be researched.

4. Increase parental Involvement. Part of the plan to achieve this goal might be to improve overall communication with the community through a USEFUL website. Also, Sylvia Villa at Northeastern has established a Parent Advocacy Office and Program at Morton East. Expanding this successful program to include Morton West would be a great start.

5. Reduce discipline problems including disrespect, violence and truancy. There are established comprensive programs that have proven effective at other high schools across the nation. The Board of Education should research some methods of building self-esteem, boosting morale, preventing violence, etc. etc. District 100 has reported great success with a nationally known program called PBIS (Positive Behavior Intervention Strategies) that includes computer software that enables administrators to analyze data about behaviors and the effectiveness of the interventions. I'm not sure that this program is appropriate at the high school level, but perhaps the board could research similar (data-driven) programs that have been successful at the high school level.

6. Improve standardized test scores. Our 2006 report card reports that only 30% of our students meet/exceed expectations (compared to 72.9% at the state level). Our average ACT score is 17.1 compared to a state average of 20. Part of the plan to achieve this goal should be to hire a very strong and qualified/experienced leader as Curriculum Director. Our district has had no curriculum director for the past year. The curriculum Director should set specific/measurable goals regarding student achievement.

With all of the work that needs to be done in District 201, I fail to see how prioritizing school uniforms moves District 201 forward. In fact, any time, energy, resources and OUTRAGE should be directed toward one goal: STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT.

Early Childhood in Illinois by Deanna Durica

Illinois has been at the forefront of early childhood education for the past 20 years, beginning in 1985 with the Prekindergarten (Pre-K) program for children at risk of academic failure. Recognizing that learning begins at birth, Illinois lawmakers created the birth-to-three set-aside within the early childhood funding stream, allocating eleven cents of every dollar to programs serving children aged birth to three.

When Illinois enacted Preschool for All in 2006, it became the first state in the nation to offer voluntary access to high-quality preschool to all three- and four-year-olds whose parents choose to participate.

The state’s preschool funding can be accessed by a variety of entities, including school districts, child care centers, park district preschool programs and faith-based programs. Funding enables programs to hire certified teachers with training in early childhood, buy supplies, implement appropriate curriculum, and participate in professional development programs so that early childhood practitioners continue to grow in their knowledge of best practices. Current preschool programs can apply for funding to enhance or expand their early childhood offerings. Additionally, because the state’s early childhood funding stream sets aside eleven percent of its total for infants and toddlers, funding is available to reach out to the most at-risk families with young children through center-based and home-based child development services, helping to mitigate delays and deficits in children who may otherwise start school behind their more advantaged peers.


With the support of the Governor and the General Assembly, early childhood funding has grown by almost $165 million over the past five years. Some people wonder at the increase in spending on early childhood when budget times are so tough. The truth of the matter is, though, that this type of funding is precisely what is needed, because such investments pay significant dividends throughout a child's school years and beyond. Thirty years of research underscores how high-quality early learning programs prepare children for success in school and later life - a critical undertaking,

as national surveys of kindergarten teachers report that one out of three children enters school without basic social and emotional skills critical to school success.

Research also demonstrates that the achievement gap between low- and middle-income children and between majority and minority students is already in place before kindergarten. Investment in high-quality preschool education is a promising strategy for reversing this trend.


What about Berwyn?

The South Berwyn Grade School District received $240,000 in preschool funding for the 2006-2007 school year, providing access to a high-quality preschool program for 80 children.

The North Berwyn Grade School District has not been funded for Pre-K by the state.

With over 1,700 children aged three and four in our community, however, the need for services far outstrips the current supply. In fact, the Illinois Facilities Fund has identified Berwyn and Cicero as an area of the state most in need of early childhood services. The Illinois State Board of Education agrees, and in the hopes of encouraging more funding applications from our community it conducted special outreach meetings in Berwyn and Cicero in 2005 to teach providers in the area more about funding opportunities available through the state.

Preschool is also a priority for Berwyn educators and parents. Last January, more than 20 early childhood care and education providers, including representatives from both Berwyn school districts, parochial schools, the Catholic Charities Family Center, child care centers, and local preschools attended a meeting sponsored by State Representative LaShawn Ford to learn more about accessing funding through the state and to discuss collaborations that would enable programs to provide services more effectively. Additionally, community members and educators involved in District 100’s strategic planning process named preschool as their single biggest "instructional strategy" priority.

Clearly, though, with less than five percent of our community’s three- and four-year-olds served in a program funded by the state, Berwyn has a long way to go before it meets the need of its youngest residents.


Ask your school or child care center about their plans to enhance their programs through the state’s early education funding. Encourage them to apply to participate in Preschool for All and bring expanded, high-quality services to our community. Berwyn’s schools are making gains every year, with test scores rising overall. Investing in early childhood education is one strategy to support those gains, helping all children to be ready to succeed in school and in life.

Please contact Deanna Durica at 708-822-6653 or deanna.durica@gmail.com for more information on opportunities for accessing state funding for early learning.


Resources


The following books and publications were used as references for this newsletter article:
Illinois Facilities Fund (2003). Moving Toward a System: The Community Profiles Fact book. http://www.iff.org/content.cfm/ratl

Shonkoff, J.P., Phillips, D.A., eds (2000). From Neurons to Neighborhoods: The Science of Early Childhood Development. Washington, DC: National Academy Press http://books.nap.edu/books/0309069882/html/1.html#pagetop

Schweinhart, L.J., Montie, J. Xiang, Z., Barnett, W.S., Belfield, C.R. & Nores, M. (2005) "Lifetime Effects: The High/Scope Perry Preschool study through age 40"
http://www.highscope.org/Research/PerryProject/perrymain.htm

Ramey, C.T., Campbell, F.A., Burchinal, Skinner, M. L., Gardner, D.M., & Ramey, S.L. (2000). Persistent effects of early intervention on high-risk children and their mothers. Applied Developmental Science, 4, 2-14. http://www.fpg.unc.edu/~abc/

For more information on Preschool for All and the infant and toddler programs funded through the Early Childhood Block Grant, go to: www.isbe.net/earlychi