Wednesday, October 15, 2008 8:07 PM CDT
Mattoon Elementary, Middle School students perform well on standardized tests
By NATHANIEL WEST, Staff Writer
nwets@jg-tc.com
MATTOON — Students at Mattoon elementary schools and Mattoon Middle School performed so well on standardized tests in 2007-08 that their scores would easily surpass “adequate yearly progress” requirements next year, when the number of students who must meet or exceed state learning standards increases from 62.5 percent to 70 percent.
Referring specifically to elementary math scores on the Illinois Standards Achievement Test, District Curriculum Director Susan Smith said to school board members Tuesday, “That is absolutely amazing. These scores are absolutely astounding.”
Scores on the ISAT as well as the IIlinois Alternate Assessment for students with disabilities are used to calculate AYP. Under the provisions of the federal No Child Left Behind Act, 100 percent of students must meet or exceed learning standards by 2014.
This year, that percentage was 62.5 percent.
Smith said, “Our teachers make themselves sick over the ISAT testing.”
Individual School Report Cards were presented at Tuesday’s school board meeting. The following results account for both ISAT and IAA scores:
- At Mattoon Middle School, 85.2 percent of students met or exceeded standards in reading, while 87.1 percent met or exceeded standards in math.
- At Williams Elementary School, 78.8 percent and 89.7 percent of students reached or surpassed standards in reading and math, respectively.
- At Riddle Elementary School, the rates of students meeting or exceeding standards in reading and math were 84.2 percent and 92.7 percent, respectively.
Overall in grades three, four and five, Mattoon students eclipsed learning standards “with quite a lot of room to spare,” Smith said.
In fifth grade writing, which has only become part of the ISAT recently, 36 percent of students met or exceeded standards. The state average was 55 percent.
In grade six writing, 56 percent of Mattoon students met or exceeded standards. The average for the state at this level was 60 percent.
But 80 percent of Mattoon eighth graders surpassed learning standards in writing, besting the state average by 17 percent.
In science for grades four and seven, 90 percent and 87 percent of Mattoon students, respectively, met or exceeded standards. The state averages were 66 percent and 79 percent.
Contact Nathaniel West at nwest@jg-tc.com or 238-6860.
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hemmingway wrote on Oct 16, 2008 3:53 PM:
new math program in the elementary schools. What's the old adage? If it isn't broken don't fix it. "