The Daily Northwestern
Although two schools in the Evanston/Skokie School District 65 failed to meet federal standards, parents and educators are not discouraged by the stamp of disapproval. Instead, they’re embracing the opportunity for improvement.
In August the Illinois State Board of Education notified the district that Illinois Standards Achievement Test results at Washington Elementary School and Chute Middle School would not meet state standards for the second consecutive year, said Paul Brinson, the district’s director of research, planning, and evaluation.
As per federal law, the district notified parents whose children attended the two schools and offered them an opportunity to transfer their children to schools that were not considered failing. But few parents want their children to switch schools.
“We have four elementary students that want to move,” Brinson said. “We have eight middle school students that want to move. We can’t look to school choice to solve the problem. Parents aren’t looking to school choice to solve the problem.”
The Problem
The federal education policy No Child Left Behind requires that schools test their students to chart academic growth. In the 2003-04 school year, District 65 administered math and reading tests to students in third, fifth and eighth grades.
Schools are judged both on the results of their tests and how many of their students participate as a whole and among specified subgroups. Scores are analyzed with both ethnicity and economic status in mind.
Because subgroups at both Washington and Chute failed to meet these standards two years in a row, No Child Left Behind forced District 65 to offer what is known as school choice.
Rather than taking No Child Left Behind data as criticism, Brinson said the district is using the results as benchmarks for improvement — a year ago five district schools did not make adequate yearly progress. This year, Chute and Washington were the only two schools.
“The pieces are moving to improve instruction,” he said. “We can’t and won’t spend time wondering what could have been.”
But school choice is not an adequate answer to the problem, Brinson said. A refined curriculum and patience will do the job.
“If there’s a failure in the system, I need to reengineer the problem,” he said. “(No Child Left Behind) has given us an impetus to focus.”
School choice
Because both Washington and Chute are marked for school improvement, they are required to offer their students the option to transfer to other schools in the district.
Northwestern Education Prof. Fred Hess said school choice was included in the law for certain subgroups of students who felt neglected by their school.
“I certainly would not think that the average parent should look to move their children,” Hess said. “Parents should not take this designation to mean that their kids aren’t getting an adequate education.”
Parents should only consider transferring if they think another school might benefit their child, Hess said. They should not be mislead by the “failing school” stigma and recognize that school choice may not be the best option.
“The law imposes transfers before it imposes tutoring, which is widely agreed to be the wrong sequence,” Hess said.
improvements at Washington
Suzanne De La Cruz said rather than leaving schools, parents should wait for programs that are being implemented to catch up to the test. De La Cruz, principal of Washington Elementary, said a tailored reading program and increased parental involvement already are improving the climate at her school.
The elementary school has moved to a research-based and individually paced reading program to improve students’ ability and comprehension. She said vigilant teachers and the tailored reading program are already showing dividends. The third grade students who have been involved in the program since first grade performed well on the state tests.
“We don’t have any (third grade) student who qualified for academic warning,” she said. “Not one.”
Washington’s Parent Teacher Association co-president Beatrice McKenna has two children at the school and thinks that the stability that De La Cruz is trying to provide will improve the school. She said she will not send her students to another school.
“I don’t know that people feel like any other school in Evanston can do a better job,” said McKenna.
Reach Ben Clark at [email protected].