Raising test scores, one Waubonsie Valley student at a time

If Waubonsie Valley High School students are going to improve the school's state test scores, they're going to do it one by one, student by student.

Presenting the school's 2009 improvement plan to Indian Prairie Unit District board members Monday, Principal Kristine Marchiando stressed the need for four of the school's lowest scoring subgroups to improve.

"We want all of our students achieving, and we have done a good job putting together our plan to ensure that happens," she said. "We set four objectives and those all have to do with our subgroups."

The first objective is to get at least 70 percent of students with disabilities meeting or exceeding state standards for reading. Only 25.4 percent met or exceeded the state's goal last year.

The second goal is to get 70 percent of black, Hispanic and economically disadvantaged students in the area of reading to the same target of 70 percent in 2009. On most recent tests, black students scored the highest with 30.3 percent meeting or exceeding state standards.

The third goal is to raise the achievement in math for students with disabilities so that this group will make 70 percent of adequate yearly progress, up from 17.2 percent. Black students will also aim for raising last year's scores from 26.2 percent meeting or exceeding standards in math to 70 percent.

"All of those goals are going to take accountability on the part of all the teachers," Marchiando said.

A team of teachers and administrators have begun "systematically" breaking the curriculum apart to ensure all of the standards are covered in every class.

About 40 students have also been placed in a test taking program where tutors work with them on specific class assignments. The failure rate of students in that program has decreased by more than half, she said.

Teachers have been employing new reading strategies to students needing help in those areas.

"We're making sure they have the tools," she said. "And we're hoping that will help us see significant improvements."