When is not winning an award good news?
Editor’s note: This is the third in a three-part series on the Illinois Honor Roll.
SPRING VALLEY — Last month, Spring Valley Elementary Superintendent Jim Hermes was a happy man.
On Feb. 18, Hermes sent an e-mail to his staff saying, “This is almost as good as getting the construction grant approval letter. Congratulations District No. 99 staff for all of your efforts! Be proud!”
What had Hermes so pleased was the word that John F. Kennedy Elementary had been named by the Illinois State Board of Education as an Illinois Honor Roll school and was one of 147 schools across the state to receive a 2009 Academic Improvement Award. The Academic Improvement Awards honor schools for substantial gains in performance over the last several years.
Hermes said the award meant a lot to his staff because it showed the amount of effort they put into their teaching.
“It’s exciting. The teachers were very proud of this accomplishment, and so were the students,” Hermes said. “Over the last several years, they have really done an outstanding job on the ISAT tests.”
But that was the problem.
Over the last several years, the students at JFK have done a good job on the ISATS, climbing to 80.2 percent of the students meeting or exceeding state standards in 2006, and hovering around the 80 percent mark ever since. While the students have done a good job, there’s been no “substantial gains” in performance.
The reason for the problem can be found on the Illinois Honor Roll Web site at www.ilhonorroll.niu.edu/. According to the award announcement, only 50 percent of the JFK students met or exceeded standards in 2007, followed by 80 percent in 2008 and 81 percent in 2009.
However, a link on the Web site to the Interactive Illinois Report Card showed the correct figures for 2007, when 83.1 percent of the students met the goal.
“It is strange,” Hermes said Wednesday. “We obviously did not deserve this.”
Hermes has contacted the state board and is waiting for confirmation that the award was incorrectly given.
While winning the award was nice, Hermes said he’s just as pleased to learn the district didn’t win an improvement award.
“It is good news,” he said. “We’ve always had good scores.”
For now, Hermes is thinking about next year’s scores. Students at JFK and across the county are taking ISAT tests right now. The school is focused on the test, shutting off the bells, asking that doctor appointments be rescheduled, and keeping an eye out for the student who might not realize how important the scores are to the district.
But Hermes said the atmosphere is more relaxed than tense.
“All the hard work was done prior to the test, and this is just their time,” he said. “It’s a challenge, and they seem to enjoy it.”
Hermes came across a group of fourth-graders having an intense conversation about a question about triangles and degrees in the hallway following the math test.
“There’s always one or two that will stump the kids, and they were just curious as to how they all answered the question,” Hermes said. “You saw the expression on some of their faces, ‘Ooh, I think I got it right,’ and others were like, ‘I had no clue.’”
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