District 158 looks to maintain high reading scores

For school districts, life near the top can be tough. Making progress when students are already performing at a high level can be more difficult than bringing underperforming students up to speed.

That is the challenge facing Huntley Unit District 158, where the district's standardized test scores last year placed it among the elite in the northern Fox Valley.

Reading is a particular challenge. More than 96 percent of District 158's eighth-graders met or exceeded state standards last year, according to the latest No Child Left Behind data.

Despite the high "pass" rate, District 158 officials have launched a review of the district's literacy programs and curriculum - from kindergarten through the 12th grade - to maintain the high scores and continue an upward trend.

"District 158 is doing very well in literacy, but there's always areas for improvement," said Assistant Academic Officer Jessica Lombard, who is overseeing the review. "We're going to be looking at the reading, the writing, word study, the assessments - so through the review, we're going to try to take a look at what's working and what components we need to strengthen."

Although Superintendent John Burkey and his administration have stressed reading skills as a springboard for academic success across the board, the literacy review is not part of that push.

Rather, it is part of an ongoing process that has administrators, teachers and specialists across the district review a particular subject and make recommendations to the school board.

The district completed a two-year review of its math curriculum last year, and officials say they expect the literacy review to take just as long.

Like the math review, the literacy review will seek to create a consistent and logical sequence for students to follow as they pass through the district's English classes year after year.

"We have to make sure that - every step of the way is interlinked and interwoven," said Mary Olson, director of curriculum and instruction.

Officials hope the review will generate a plan of action for the district's literacy efforts that will last three to five years, Olson said.

The district staff plans to present a midyear update to the board in December.