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News
Audit: school district literacy programs on track : News : Oswego Ledger-Sentinel : Hometown Newspaper for Oswego and Montgomery, IllinoisAudit: school district literacy programs on track
| Consultant has praise for teachers; recommends strengthening writing program
| by Lyle R. Rolfe
| 2/4/2010
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Audit results of a literacy program for grades K-2 in the Oswego School District were presented to school board members last month.
Dr. Marsha Hollis Golden, assistant superintendent for teaching and learning, presented the report titled "Going from Good to Great," with assistance from Cathi Mundsinger, director of elementary teaching and learning, Julie Kreitzer, elementary reading coordinator, and Becky Meixensperger, reading recovery teacher leader.
"We had the audit because we are always focused on continuous improvement. The audit is the preliminary step for future curriculum renewal," Hollis Golden said.
The audit was done by Miriam Trehearne, an early literacy specialist with 30 years experience as a classroom teacher. She has done consulting work for districts across the U.S. and Canada and is a recognized speaker on literacy at international conferences.
The district was allowed to use Title I Federal grants to pay for the study because it was conducted in Title I schools involving teachers, reading teachers and administrators.
Hollis Golden said the audit focused on the full day kindergarten program, in its second year of a three year pilot, at Southbury Elementary School, 820 Preston Lane, Oswego. Four elementary schools were also analyzed including Long Beach at 67 Long Beach Road, Boulder Hill, Lakewood Creek at 2301 Lakewood Creek Drive, Montgomery, Boulder Hill at 163 Boulder Hill Pass, Boulder Hill, and East View at 4209 Rt. 71, Oswego. East View was closed for extensive renovations at the end of last year.
She said Trehearne reviewed and surveyed teachers, reading professionals, principals and district leaders. She also visited all classrooms and observed classes and teaching methods over a five-day period.
Trehearne then spent several months analyzing the material and completing her 149 page report which was presented to building administrators, reading specialists and school psychologists last October.
Final implementation will be decided by the Literacy Committee, Hollis Golden said.
She said Trehearne studied kindergarten, first and second grades because they are the critical foundation years for grades 3, 4 and 5.
All research supports that quality instruction and early intervention is the cornerstone of student success, Hollis Golden noted.
Kreitzer said that a Chicago Sun-Times survey showed that Oswego's elementary schools outperformed almost 80 percent of Illinois schools last year in grades 3, 4, and 5.
She said two elementary schools-Wolf's Crossing at 3015 Heggs Road, Aurora and Homestead 2830 Hillsboro Boulevard, Aurora, were ranked in the top 10 percent of all Illinois schools.
Old Post Elementary at 100 Old Post Road, Oswego, ranked in the 89th percentile, and all of the elementary schools performed above average, Kreitzer added.
At the third grade level, only one school was at the 90th percentile in 2006 for ISAT reading, she noted.
Last year 90 percent of the students in six schools met or exceeded the standards for Illinois State Achievement Test (ISAT) reading.
While students statewide decreased one percent between 2006 and 2009, Oswego's students increased four percent, she said.
In writing, only 62 percent of the students in Illinois met or exceeded state standards compared to 81 percent of Oswego's students. Oswego and Geneva tied at 81 percent, while Naperville had 89 percent to be the top district out of 11 neighboring districts.
In addition to Naperville and Geneva, the others and their percentages were Indian Prairie 80, St. Charles 76, Batavia and Plainfield 71, Yorkville 69, Kaneland 67, Sycamore 52, Plano 42 and Newark 32.
At the fourth grade level, no Oswego schools had 90 percent or more of their students meeting the ISAT expectations for reading in 2006 but by 2009 six school met expectations. Between 2006 and 2009, at the state level schools gained 0.1 percent while Oswego schools gained six percent, Kreitzer said.
Writing was not assessed at the fourth grade level.
At the fifth grade level, she said no schools scored in 90 percent or more on the ISAT in reading in 2006, but in 2009, six schools scored more than 90 percent.
Between 2006 and 2009, Oswego schools showed a gain of nine percent compared to the state average of only five percent.
In writing, 79 percent of Oswego's fifth graders met ISAT expectations compared to the state average of only 64 percent.
Oswego's 79 percent was above all other area districts which were: Geneva 77 percent, Naperville and St. Charles 76, Indian Prairie 72, Batavia and Yorkville 69, Sycamore 68, Kaneland and Plano 53, Plainfield 47, and Newark 22 percent.
Kreitzer said Oswego ranked highest in the percentage of low income students with 12.7 percent. The others were Newark 12.1, Plainfield 11.9, Yorkville 11, Naperville 7.8, St. Charles, 7.7, Indian Prairie 7.5, Batavia 7.4, Kaneland 7.3, Hinckley-Big Rock 6.9, Sycamore 5.5 and Geneva 3.5.
She noted that in 2007 Oswego scored 92 percent in math and only 81 percent in reading, while in 2009 these scores were 92 and 86 percent, going from 11 to a 6 percent difference. On a state basis, the differences went from a 13 percent difference down to only 12.
Hollis Golden said the mission of the Literacy Committee was "to create a systematic, seamless literacy road map for the district to guide the professional development and material needs for the next 3-5 years to ensure the use of best practices in the area of early and intermediate literacy." It is for grades K-5, she said. Mundsinger said Oswego is committed to literacy, believes that early literacy is a focus, and supports intervention to instill a love of reading in the schools.
She said Trehearne noted that she saw many best teaching practices in the classrooms, and praised the system.
Mundsinger said Trehearne felt Oswego's teaching staff is dedicated and knowledgeable and that the professional development provided by the district supports the teachers.
Kreitzer said the study showed they need to focus more on instruction, provide better literature, integrate literature into other subjects, strengthen their writing program and support good instruction practices.
District ahead of
most in area, but...
Kreitzer explained that even though Oswego did better than 13 of its 15 neighboring districts, at this rate it will not make the district goal by 2012 of meeting 97 percent of state standards.
Hollis Golden said their next step is to prioritize the key issues and said it will take multiple years to resolve all issues.
"It's not going to fix everything tomorrow, but we're going to take our time within the resources and time we have to look at all the recommendations. Then we want to prioritize them in the proper categories," she said.
"We have a good reading program already. We're going to build on its strengths and we truly believe we are going from good to great.
"It's just going to take some time," she concluded.
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