Math scores fall as focus shifts to reading skills

Year after year, Illinois high schools fall short of meeting federal No Child Left Behind bench marks on standardized tests.

Usually, flat or declining reading scores take the spotlight.

This year, in suburban schools as well as statewide, it's math.

Prairie State Achievement Exam scores released today show the percent rate of 11th-graders in public schools meeting state standards in math fell from 53.1 percent last year to 51.6 percent.

That's the biggest backward swing the state has seen in the subject since 2003. Reading scores, on the other hand, improved this year by more than three points, from 53.3 to 56.9 percent meeting standards. It's the first time in four years that reading scores have improved.

Across the suburbs, trends are similar.

A Daily Herald analysis shows that 30 of 66 suburban high schools saw math scores drop this year on the exam composed of the ACT and the job-skills based WorkKeys test. Only 20 percent of schools saw reading scores drop. While some schools saw drops in both subjects, declines were greater in math at all but three schools. Some, like Glenbard West and Antioch high schools, saw drastic swings, with math scores going down more than 12 points each, but reading staying level.

What's going on?

It's not a new test, and the difficultly level of questions on the two-part exam haven't changed, Illinois State Board of Education officials said.

"We don't have a magic bullet as to why that may have occurred," spokesman Matt Vanover said.

Local school officials say they have some idea.

With reading scores lagging far behind targets, reading improvement has been a major focus in high schools over the past few years.

While that focus may not have directly drained resources for math, the subject was forced to take a bit of a back seat.

South Elgin High School, which saw a 7.3 point reading gain and a 1.1 point math drop this year, ramped up reading standards four years ago and writing standards two years ago.

South Elgin, along with other U-46 high schools, has been working with a reading improvement consultant from Harding University in Arkansas. Classroom libraries were added, and extensive reading lists implemented across the curriculum, humanities Chairwoman Lori Lopez said.

"We're seeing the benefits of this finally on the standardized tests. It's a culture that's been established," she said.

All the while, the percentage of students at South Elgin meeting standards in math were much closer to the state average than in reading, a trend also common across the suburbs.

Antioch High School saw 57.5 percent of students meet standards in reading this year. Just 46.8 percent meet them in math - a 12.3 percent drop from 2008.

Like South Elgin, the school has made reading improvement a priority for the past three years, Assistant Principal of Curriculum and Instruction John Whitehurst said.

Officials also note that each class of juniors that takes the test from year to year is different.

"It's not as simple as just looking at an aggregate score," Antioch Principal Michael Nekritz said. "This was disappointing. We're taking it seriously, tackling it head-on."

With reading scores stabilizing this year for the first time, that task may be more clear-cut.

"We can focus our energy on looking at the applied math side of this and integrating it throughout the entire curriculum," South Elgin math Chairwoman Lisa Olsem said.

Nekritz, too, said Antioch's curriculum this year will integrate mathematical "problem solving" into other academic areas.

Along with schools' individual efforts, the state's new graduation requirements, effective for all students entering high school last fall, may also help.

High school students must now take three years of math, including a year of algebra and another year of a course with geometry content. Only two years were required previously.

Results, however, might take some time.

"Remember, these scores are based on tests they take their junior year," Olsem said. It does take a little bit longer for (improvement) to get all the way through."