Tuesday, October 14, 2008 10:34 PM CDT
Mattoon school district keeps pace with AYP requirements
By NATHANIEL WEST, Staff Writer
nwest@jg-tc.com
MATTOON — Although a sizeable majority of Mattoon students accomplished state goals on standardized tests this year, achieving 100 percent success would be like an obese person losing 100 pounds but struggling to reduce those final few digits on the scale, said Susan Smith, curriculum director for the Mattoon school district.
“The last 10 pounds will kill you,” she said. “It’s very hard to close in that last 15 to 16 percent” of students who fail to meet learning standards.
But as the 2001 No Child Left Behind Act stands now, 100 percent of students must reach required levels by 2014 — or else. This year, though, only 62.5 percent of test-takers had to meet or exceed learning standards, so the Mattoon school district is once again keeping pace with the federal law.
Smith announced at Tuesday’s school board meeting the school district made “adequate yearly progress” in all categories. However, repeating this feat in the coming years could prove more challenging, if not impossible, as the mandated percentage of students who must eclipse learning standards increases.
“You can see, as a district, we’re in good shape” this year, Smith told board members.
In reading, 79.5 percent of all Mattoon students met or exceeded standards, while 83.1 percent of students did so in math.
Overall, these scores would be good enough for the district also to make AYP next year, when the requirement reaches 70 percent.
Smith attributed the continued success to the district’s faculty and leadership.
“Thank you teachers (and) principals, every day,” Smith said. “You are just amazing people.”
There was, however, an asterisk on Mattoon’s 2008 School Report Card.
In the “students with disabilities” subgroup, only 57.5 percent of students met or exceeded standards in reading. But based on “safe harbor” provisions, the target level for making AYP in this category was 53.7 percent.
Meanwhile, in math, 67.6 percent of special education students — who take the same test as every other student — met or exceeded standards.
And in the “economically disadvantaged” subgroup, 74.2 percent and 82.1 percent of students met or exceeded standards in reading and math, respectively.
According to the latest School Report Card, the Mattoon district boasted a 93.9 percent attendance rate, surpassing the AYP requirement of 90 percent.
Mattoon High School’s graduation rate was 87.1 percent. The rate necessary for meeting AYP was 75 percent.
School Report Card data and standardized test scores are available on the district’s Web site, www.mattoon.k12.il.us.
Contact Nathaniel West at nwest@jg-tc.com or 238-6860.
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