2001-2002 Program Analysis

To accurately assess educational progress an inner city Chicago Elementary School during the 2001-02 school year, we must attend to the myriad factors that influence student achievement. Just as a high-stakes annual test does not adequately represent a student's ability or achievement, a single-faceted measurement of a student body's progress, such as "at or above grade level numbers," does not effectively convey a school's progress. Academic achievement is very often not a linear progression that takes place in 180-day segments; rather, it is a process governed by the circumstances of students' lives. It is essential, therefore, to consider student achievement growth from each individual student's starting point, which allows us to access sustained growth or decline and more accurately reflects what is actually taking place in a school. Students' gains from their annual starting point are very telling of how a student is progressing in relation to the desired "at or above grade level" designation. These scores are also informative about how the grade level teachers are performing. By these terms, the academic growth of this year's 3rd grade class at this Chicago school was excellent.

Growth data for the 2001-02 school year, based on Spring ITBS test results, reveals real progress at an elementary school in inner city Chicago. 88% of the students for whom we have complete data demonstrated growth (78 of 89 students). 72% of all students, including those with incomplete data, earned scores indicating growth (78 of 108 students). A remarkable 46% of these students grew from 1.1 to 2.8 years in one year's time, and 26% of them grew from .1 to .9 academic years during the school year. Impressively, 22% of the third grade class scored at or above grade level, regardless of their starting point, and 5.6% more were only one-tenth of one point away from achieving at or above grade level scores.

These results show that, although many of these students were far behind to begin the year, most made outstanding progress during the school year. We feel confident that the intervention programs in place contributed significantly to the success of these students. In fact, in the three classrooms in which we provided intensive tutoring services, 41% of the students performed at or above grade level. These classrooms produced 88%, therefore, of all students earning at or above grade level scores. Most impressively, 59% of the students in these classrooms demonstrated academic growth ranging from 1.1 to 2.8 years. The reading tutoring program we prescribed for these students at the end of last year resulted in remarkable progress from these students.

Further, students at our Chicago school benefited from a unique Arts and Academics program which has increased the classroom teachers' focus on writing across the disciplines and engaged students in various mediums of artistic expression. This program enables us to capture the interest and imagination of students who might otherwise be overlooked or overwhelmed in the classroom. The objective results of such a program are difficult to measure, but its success is certain. Similarly, our frequent contact and joint planning with school administrators throughout the school year kept all means of communication open and enabled us to collaborate to plan and carry out effective and specialized staff development for teachers. Our focus on school climate issues enables us to ready the school for and initiate lasting and fundamental change in academic practice and culture. Though these contributions are difficult to measure, they certainly foster the kind of environment in which progress can be made, and it was.