After listening to the Evanston/Skokie School District 65 No Child Left Behind progress plan presentation, board member Sharon Sheehan had one question: “What about class sizes?”
The No Child Left Behind plan presented at Monday’s school board meeting features extra reading and math classes but does not include any class-size reform. Most of the classrooms in D65 meet targeted class size goals, but Sheehan said the numbers were still too high.
“How are teachers going to get it all done?” Sheehan said. “My two kids at Washington School have had 22-plus kids in their classes, with more than 50 percent low-income.”
Other new services include grade-level curriculum materials for special education students, a special education staff development workshop for all teachers, more extended-day classes for targeted students in grades two through eight and a booster teacher to help students beginning nine weeks before the exam.
The new district-wide No Child Left Behind response plan is estimated to cost $147,100.
Jim McHolland, principal of Chute Middle School, 1400 Oakton St., said he supports the plan. Chute Middle School had impressive results with the extended-day program and double doses of English and math classes for struggling students last year.
The school’s state-issued 2004 report card showed that about 66 percent of students met or exceeded standards, including more than 48 percent of economically disadvantaged students.
“While this is a great improvement from the 30 percent before that passed, it still means I have plenty of kids that need assistance,” McHolland said Wednesday.
Students are targeted for extra help based on Illinois state test scores and other assessment tests. Those who qualify for the extra help are then given the option to enroll in the programs.
“We try to keep the sessions fun but educational,” McHolland said. “We provide a snack and drink, along with two hours of math and two hours of reading a week.”
McHolland said recruiting teachers to participate in the new programs will be difficult. Chute, as well as other district schools, try to use teachers already employed in the district.
“We want to use the teachers that already teach in the school, but that might not be possible,” McHolland said. “The new cash incentive of $50 per hour for teachers that participate in the extended program will help, but not solve the problem. Teachers still have long days and not all of them are able to stay after school.”
Sheehan had similar concerns.
“Teachers have to face more than four reading group levels in multiple languages,” she said. “When do they have the time for the supplemental teaching?”
Chute Middle School also has used Study Island online test preparation in the classroom. Students are given instruction and then are tested to see how much they understood. The Study Island test preparation program was not included in the No Child Left Behind progress plan.
Although these additional measures will help children outside of the standard classroom, improvements still need to be made in the regular classroom, D65 board member Jerome Summers said.
“The question we need to ask ourselves is why can’t kids learn within the classroom?” Summers said at Monday’s meeting. “We are talking about the same kids every time, some black and Latino students. There is no reason why they should not be achieving the same success as everyone else.”
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