McHenry Times

Deputy Superintendent Martinia Smith spoke to the District 300 Board of Education about the Perry Elementary School Improvement plan at the April 11 board meeting.

Smith spoke about the assessment data and showed a graph with reading levels about how many students were at or above expectations in the fall testing, followed by the winter. In the fall, very few students met the preferred mark but there was improvement shown by the winter reading assessments. Kindergarten showed the greatest improvement and fourth grade showed the least. Smith also said that the majority of students are in the one level below range, comping up from further achievement gaps. Math data was similar as well, with kindergarten showing big increases. However, the fall achievement levels were not higher than 3% for any grade. Grades two through five were 5% to 9% by winter tests, with first grade at 18% and kindergarten going to 47%.

“So we've got more students that are progressing through, which is not a small challenge to make sure that we are closing the achievement gap,” said Superintendent Susan Harkin. "This is really a big celebration. If you recall, as part of our IAR for grades three through five, we were much below these percentages up here for students that were on grade level. So this is a huge accomplishment in a very short amount of time.”

Smith discussed the main tasks for improvement, which include improving and implementing tier 1 and tier 2 strategies in their classrooms to address student learning needs.

She said the school received a low designation from the state recently and has made big efforts to improve the state of academics. They changed the schedule to add instructional time for math and reading while creating and implementing more professional development to help teachers address learning gaps in these areas. They also carefully monitor students and their performances to make sure they receive additional help. They are also creating specific goals and plans for the next school year after their spring testing data, which includes improving student behavior and attendance levels.

Smith also assured the board they would be receiving the end-of-the-year report in June.