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.