For the first time since 2003, Komarek School District 94 saw its scores drop on the Illinois Standards Achievement Test (ISAT), which the Illinois State Board of Education uses to gauge how schools are faring under guidelines set by the federal No Child Left Behind Act.
Overall, the percentage of students at Komarek School meeting state standards fell to 80 percent, a 4-percent drop since 2006, when Komarek posted its highest-ever scores on the exam.
The downturn was fueled principally by low reading scores in fourth, fifth and seventh grades, where the percentage of students meeting grade level standards fell between 10 and 20 percent.
“We’ve gone back and looked at the entire curriculum,” said Superintendent Neil Pellicci.
While Pellicci said that some of the problem could be traced to students newer to the district who were not up to grade level, students who were higher achievers also fared poorly on the 2007 test. As a result, the district is providing teachers with additional training for conducting test prep and is also trying to motivate students to do their best on the test, which is given each March.
Parents are being asked to sign a “contract” pledging they’ll be part of the test prep process by reviewing materials with their children, making sure they’re physically ready for the test days and encouraging their children to perform well.
“We’re trying to reinforce what we’re trying to teach, which is that this is important,” Pellicci said, “That doing their best is a reflection on the school.”
Reading scores actually fell in all grades tested except for eighth grade, which saw the percentage of students meeting state standards in reading go up 7.5 percent to 87.1 percent. Eighth-grade math scores fell slightly.
However, in all other grades tested-3 through 7-reading scores tumbled.
In third and sixth grade the score drops were marginal. In fourth grade the number of students reading at grade level fell 10.3 percent, in fifth grade by 9.6 percent and in seventh grade by a 17.7 percent.
In seventh grade, just 57.7 percent of students met state standards in reading, far below the state’s overall mark of 73.4 percent. In all but third and eighth grades, Komarek students tested below their statewide peers in reading.
On the other hand, Komarek students fared better in math overall compared to their peers statewide, despite math scores at the school dropping in all but seventh grade. Science scores also fell in fourth and seventh grades, the only grades tested for that subject. In seventh grade, the percentage of students meeting state standards in science fell 14.2 percent to 78.8 percent, putting them below the state average of 79.3 percent.
Looking closer at the numbers, the drop in scores were across all demographic groups listed-white, black and Hispanic-but were not predictable.
In third grade the percentage of black students meeting state standards in reading fell 23.4 percent from 2006, improved in fourth grade by 11.8 percent and then dropped in fifth grade by 32.7 percent, in sixth grade by 10 percent before improving slightly in seventh grade.
Reading scores of white students fell in four of six grades tested, including a 17.3 percent drop in fourth grade. Hispanic students alternately performed well-such as in third-, sixth- and seventh-grade math, where 100 percent, 91.7 and 90 percent respectively of those tested met state standards-and poorly, for example seventh-grade reading, where just 50 percent of Hispanic students met state standards.
One way District 94 hopes to remedy test scores is to attract more experienced teachers by offering an incentive not allowed in recent years. Since 2004, the district limited the number of years experienced teachers could use to determine their starting pay to three. That number has been increased to six.
“The salaries do have a bearing on recruitment,” said Pellicci.
According to the 2007 school report card for Komarek, teachers in the district averaged $47,914 annually. The state average is $58,275.