Warren High fighting state agency's accusations over student testing
Denying it committed any wrongdoing, Warren Township High School will fight a finding by Illinois' top education office that it is treating students differently for testing purposes in violation of state and federal requirements.
In dispute is how about 150 underperforming juniors were not allowed to take the Prairie State Achievement Exam over two days in April. Gurnee-based Warren District 121 officials said the poor students were not blocked from testing as a way to increase average test scores.
District 121 board members last year approved an administration recommendation to boost the academic program's rigor. Warren officials said the action was cleared in advance by the Illinois State Board of Education - the agency now leveling accusations against the district.
As part of the effort now under scrutiny, it was agreed students must have earned 11 credit hours by the fifth semester and completed other requirements to take the Prairie State tests as juniors in spring 2009. Pupils are supposed to benefit by being more prepared to meet the testing standards.
Results from the exam given to Warren juniors are highlighted in an annual school report card of student academic performance.
About 150 of 1,000 juniors didn't earn the required 11 credit hours in time or meet the higher standards for English, math and science, so they couldn't join classmates in the Prairie State process in April, Warren officials said.
But in the directive issued Monday by the state, Warren was informed an investigation showed the district was treating the juniors differently for testing purposes. Melina Wright, the agency's No Child Left Behind liaison, stated Warren is violating state and federal requirements.
"This practice must cease immediately," wrote Wright, who warned the loss of federal funding is at risk. State board of education spokesman Matt Vanover said Wright is on vacation for the rest of the week.
At a meeting Tuesday night, Warren Superintendent Phil Sobocinski and other administrators contended the state granted permission for the new academic standards knowing that meant some juniors wouldn't take the exam. Sobocinski said District 121 has plenty of supporting documents and will appeal the order within 30 days.
"We're saying (to the state), 'We wouldn't have done this if you told us we couldn't do it,'" he said.
Assistant Superintendent for Personnel Mary Perry Bates stressed the district did not establish the more challenging academic standards to prevent poor students from taking the exam to boost its annual report card scores.
Bates and District 121 board President John Anderson said the problem possibly could have been avoided if the teens in question were classified as third-year students, based on their lack of credit hours, and not juniors.
Sobocinski said information from the state led Warren to list as juniors the students who were ineligible for the Prairie State exam.
"There's a perception we've done something illicit," he said. "There was no attempt to do that."
Wileen Gehrig, director of instruction and school improvement, said the pupils who did not participate in the Prairie State exam won't be harmed. She said they may take the ACT college entrance exam in October, which was part of the Prairie State spring testing.
Vanover said state schools Superintendent Christopher Koch will rule on the issue. His decision will come after education office staffers issue a recommendation.
Bates said other suburban high schools have been using academic criteria similar to Warren's for the Prairie State exam.
Separately, retired Warren teacher Richard Bryan last month lodged a complaint with the state accusing the district of improperly denying some juniors from taking the achievement test. Vanover confirmed Bryan's claims are under investigation.
Officials from the state informed District 121 the order demanding students not be treated differently for testing reasons is unrelated to Bryan's accusations. Koch will be responsible for deciding Bryan's complaint.