Washington School commits to
 improving students’ ISAT scores

Washington School RtI Coach John Donermeyer, above, and External Instructional
Coach Penny Lund, below, explain some of the strategies being used to help
prepare students for this year's Illinois Standards Achievement Test.

Washington Elementary and Junior High schools are taking steps to prepare students for, and help bolster their performance on, this year’s state-standardized achievement tests.

Washington School administrators and staff turned out en masse for the District 148 Board of Education’s December 17th meeting. Presentations were made, a video was shown, and explanations were given about the school-wide commitment to improving students’ Illinois Standards Achievement Test (ISAT) scores.

Grade 4 Teacher Monica White, Principal Joy Chase, External Instructional Coach Penny Lund, Response to Intervention Coach John Donermeyer and Success for All Facilitator Aritha Harvey took part in the presentations.

From creating small group learning centers, attending a Saturday session to prepare for ISAT testing, and using new instructional strategies, Principal Joy Chase said staff members are working hard to make sure Washington School makes Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP).

“There is a sense of urgency in our building that everything we do counts,” Lund said.

The federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) requires states to set annual achievement targets and to measure the performance of each public school and district.

Student performance on ISAT in the areas of reading and math is among the factors used to determine whether schools and districts make AYP. Those that do not make AYP for consecutive years face sanctions. This year’s AYP target is to have at least 77.5 percent of students meeting or exceeding state reading and math standards.

White said students also are encouraged to take pride in and ownership of their work.

The ultimate goal of NCLB is to have all students meeting reading and math standards by 2014.