A majority of District 97 school students did improve in reading and math from last year under guidelines established by the federal ‘No Child Left Behind’ law but district officials are concerned that some students are still lagging behind.

Nine out of 10 District 97 schools met all requirements outlined by the federal standards, in the just released state school report cards.

Percy Julian Middle School, 416 S. Ridgeland Ave., was the only school in the district failing to meet the law’s adequate yearly progress target. The AYP measures improvements in test scores, graduation rates and other indicators.

Only 38 percent of black students at the school met or exceeded state reading and math standards, compared to 87 percent of white students. And only 33.9 percent of low-income students met or exceeded standards. Among black students, the 2005 results represent a four percent decline from one year ago.

The low numbers highlight the need to address the district’s achievement gap, district officials said.

“If you look at it, overall we’re doing good, but when we look at the subgroups, which ‘No Child Left Behind’ requires, we see that not all students in those sub groups performed,” said Mark Pickus, student achievement data analyst for the district. “It’s something we’re concerned about.”

Schools are required, under the law, to assess underachieving students in one of eight demographic groups, including blacks, Hispanics and low-income students.

Julian failed to claim a “safe harbor” provision under the law for students who improve state standards by 10 percent from the previous year. In 2004, 42.2 percent of black students hit math and reading targets.

Under ‘No Child’ at least 47.5 of all subgroup-tested students must meet or exceed state standards on reading and math tests.

Pickus, though, pointed out that the achievement gap is not restricted to only Julian. It’s a district-wide concern, he said.

“One of the key things we face is student achievement and narrowing the achievement gap that we do have in the district. There is a problem that we’re aware of,” Pickus said. “We should be able to provide a quality education to all students and we know we have our work cut out for us.”

CONTACT:tdean@wjinc.com

By the numbers

Under the federal No Child Left Behind Act, all public schools must have 100 percent of their tested students making adequate yearly progress in reading and math by 2014. States in the meantime are required to establish gradually increasing targets to meet that goal. Among the conditions Illinois schools must meet:

– At least 95 percent of all students are tested in reading and math.

– At least 47.5 percent of all tested students must meet or exceed state standards on the reading and math tests.

– High schools must have a graduation rate of at least 67 percent.

– If a school has at least 45 students who fit into any of eight demographic groups, at least 95 percent of each group must be tested in reading and math, which includes whites, blacks, multiracial, Hispanics, students with limited English proficiency, students with disabilities, and low-income students.

– Elementary, junior high and middle schools must have an attendance rate of at least 89 percent.

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