Going out with a bang
Comments (...)Editor’s note: This is the first article in a three-part series focusing on Bureau County schools which have been named to the Illinois 2011 Honor Roll for academic achievement, as determined by criteria set by the Illinois State Board of Education and Northern Illinois University.
BUREAU — If high test scores could keep a school district open, the Leepertown School District would be able to count on staying open for a long time.
But despite the financial woes that are causing the district to close at the end of the school year, Leepertown was once again named to the 2011 Illinois Honor Roll for its continued academic progress.
The tiny school has been a regular on the lists for years, receiving an Academic Improvement award in 2003 and 2004; both Academic Improvement and Spotlight School in 2005; Spotlight School in 2006 and 2007; and both Academic Improvement and Spotlight School again in 2008. For 2009, Leepertown was a Spotlight School in 2009, 2010 and now again in 2011.
Northern Illinois University works with the Illinois State Board of Education to establish criteria, identify winners of the awards and administer the Illinois Honor Roll, which is divided into three categories – Spotlight Schools, Academic Excellence and Academic Improvement. This year’s Spotlight Schools award was given to 167 high-poverty, high-performing schools that are beating the odds by overcoming the achievement gap.
To be named a Spotlight School, a school must be making adequate yearly progress (AYP), which requires at least 85 percent of the students must pass the state achievement tests in both reading and mathematics. In addition, at least half of the students must be from low-income families. As the AYP requirements continue to rise, the number of schools achieving this award has declined every year since 2007, when 508 schools received the award.
Leepertown met both of the criteria easily. Last year 70 percent of its students qualified for free or reduced lunch. And 88 percent of the students met or exceeded state standards on the Illinois Standards Achievement Test.
Superintendent Amber Harper credits the district’s success on a number of factors.
“Part of it is luck,” she said with a laugh.
Another part is student mobility. About 50 percent of the district’s students move out of the district every year, which Harper said makes it difficult to teach.
However, students who move into the district after May 1 are not included in the test scores, which narrows down the number of students who are counted.
“You at least have one year,” Harper said. “That gives us extra time to work with them.”
And that extra time is well spent.
“Because we’re small, they can’t hide,” she said.
Teachers immediately find out what each student’s weaknesses are and begin an individualized curriculum immediately.
Harper also credits the “great” partners the district has, such as AmeriCorps, which has provided four volunteers this year. Harper said the volunteers get their paraprofessional certificates immediately, and she trains them to use whatever the district has available.
Another benefit is the before and after school programs funded through the 21st Century grant. The program lasts until 5 p.m. on school days and is also open for several days during Christmas and spring vacations, and between six and eight weeks during the summer.
“These programs make all the difference,” Harper said.
Another difference is Harper herself, who has been at the district since 2003. At that time, the Illinois State Board of Education was ready to close the school for low test scores.
“My board took a chance on me,” she said. “I don’t think like other people.”
Rather than math or reading, Harper’s background is in the arts.
“I believe in educating the whole child, and children in poverty need those opportunities,” she said.
The district added classes in visual art, music, dance and drama, and all four classes have been offered almost every year.
“What doesn’t engage one child will engage another,” she said. “It’s motivational and doesn’t involve a child sitting at a desk with pencil and paper filling in a tiny oval all the time.”
Harper said the announcement was bittersweet with the impending closing of the school, but she said it’s time for the school to close.
“We can’t keep doing this with three grade levels,” she said. “There are other things the students need.”
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Most Recent Comment wrote on ...
Great Job Amber!!! Anything worthwhile I learned in that school! Many good memories there. I hate to see it go but it is totally understandable.
Live long and prosper!
BPearce |
