Neuqua restructuring to meet federal test guidelines
Neuqua Valley High School is planning several instructional changes in coming years designed to raise test scores.
The Naperville school did not meet federal No Child Left Behind standards for five of the past six years, requiring it to create a restructuring plan officials recently presented to the Indian Prairie Unit District 204 school board.
Principal Robert McBride compared the situation to the saying, "If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got."
"A restructuring plan is a desire to substantially rethink things," he said.
Neuqua's draft plan looks at both the structure of the school and the instruction provided and is geared toward giving extra assistance to students who haven't been meeting standards.
Black students and students with disabilities have been the two groups struggling to make the grade on state tests.
One change will be in administrative assignments, aligning assistant principals with the district administration and providing greater accountability.
The school also plans to create professional learning communities in which small groups of teachers will meet weekly to discuss student performance and make adjustments as necessary.
"The kids are right in front of us right now and they need adjustments for instruction as they're moving through the curriculum, not after they've passed through the curriculum," McBride said.
To give students more personalized attention, the school will improve its academic advisory program and is looking at placing students with teachers whose specialty is the subject in which they are struggling.
Neuqua also plans to help students prepare for standardized tests by implementing additional practice tests. Freshmen will take a practice PLAN test while sophomores will take a practice ACT. These students also will have the opportunity to meet with college counselors and career representatives to help them plan for their futures.
Administrators say the practice tests will give teachers another set of data to track student performance and identify weaknesses in addition to making students feel more comfortable with the tests.
The school also will make improvements to its Math Intervention Program through which students get extra help during their lunch period and will continue to identify and assist students who enter high school with low GPAs.
Partnering with the Regional Office of Education, Neuqua will work on a cultural competency plan to help both teachers and students understand each other better.
Mike Popp, director of school improvement and planning for the district, said the draft plan has received positive feedback from state officials. The district will continue to fine-tune it to create a final plan.