Dist. 204 says it's on the right track

Standardized tests are important for measuring progress on an annual basis, but Indian Prairie Unit District 204 administrators believe they can help more students succeed by monitoring their progress several times during the course of a year.

Since the beginning of the school year, district officials have been monitoring the progress of all students from preschool through eighth grade in their literacy and math skills. The data is also being used as principals develop new school improvement plans.

Assistant Superintendent Kathy Duncan said the work began in earnest three years ago when problem-solving and building leadership teams were formed to identify the student needs. This year, she said, intervention teams built around interventionists, reading improvement and other support teachers have taken the lead to begin developing individual strategies to help students achieve. Help is also necessary from the parents, officials said, to identify areas where the children need help and to work with the students to improve.

Already the district has identified 3,781, or nearly 15 percent of, students who are being monitored for literacy development, compared to 314, or 2.5 percent, whose math skills are monitored. To help those students, interventionist Becky Saul observes and comments on teacher practices and offers ideas she has to assist the teachers at a class level. Then, in many cases, she breaks the student work down into individual successes and areas that need improvement.

She then monitors to make sure the program put into place is helping the child succeed.

"Monitoring is critical because if you're doing the wrong thing for a really long time, it doesn't help," Duncan said. "You need to know you're doing the right thing, and if you're doing something that's not helpful, you switch it and find the right answer."

And administrators say it's working. Gombert Elementary School Principal Dave Worst said he believes the new strategies have worked so well that teachers are looking forward to the standardized tests this year to see how the students have already improved.

Districtwide data shows students curriculum-based reading scores and math skills have increased several percentiles in all grade levels between the 2007 and 2008 school years.

"It's working," said Patrick Nolten, district director of assessment, research and evaluation. "And the process is simple: We're taking a long look at every kid and finding out student by student, what's working and what's not."