District 200 reviews report card

While test scores are strong overall in Wheaton Warrenville Unit District 200, some of its schools have failed to meet targets set by the federal No Child Left Behind law.

Still, the news was mostly positive on Wednesday night when Margo Sorrick, District 200's assistant superintendent for educational services, talked to school board members about results in the state-issued report card.

Sorrick's presentation revealed that most students in the district scored at or above the state average on annual assessment exams taken in March.

Officials said elementary and middle school students performed “exceptionally well” on the Illinois Standards Achievement Test, which was taken by students in third through eighth grade.

At the district's 13 elementary schools, 88.2 percent of the students met or exceeded standards in reading and 95 percent of the students met or exceeded standards in math.

In the four middle schools, 87.7 percent of the students met or exceeded the state benchmark in reading and 93.6 percent of the students met or exceeded standards in math.

Meanwhile, juniors who took the Prairie State Achievement Exam at Wheaton North and Wheaton Warrenville South high schools “far exceeded the state average in all areas,” officials said.

When it came to reading, 74.6 percent of the juniors met or exceeded standards. And 75.2 percent met or exceeded standards in math.

Overall, 74.2 percent of District 200's juniors met or exceeded standards on the PSAE. Statewide, 53 percent of students met or exceeded standards.

“I think that's an important difference to acknowledge,” Sorrick said.

Officials also highlighted the district's efforts to comply with No Child Left Behind.

Several schools, including both high schools, didn't meet the adequate yearly progress standards set by the federal law because not all demographic groups attained 77.5 percent of students meeting or exceeding expectations on reading and math tests.

Sorrick said the schools already have developed plans on how to address the challenges. A variety of support programs are available to help students.

Previous efforts appear to be paying off when it comes to the ACT. Recent high school graduates helped the district achieve its highest overall composite score on that test in the past five years.

The Class of 2010, which took the ACT last year along with some juniors, received a composite score of 24.4 on the college entrance exam's 36-point scale.

Looking at District 200's high schools, Wheaton North students posted an overall average score of 24.5, just slightly higher than Wheaton Warrenville South students, who garnered an average score of 24.3.

The ACT composite score is comprised of sub-scores in four academic areas: science, reading, mathematics and English. Wheaton North and Wheaton Warrenville South both showed improvement in all the sub-tests, officials said.

Sorrick said it's “a very strong indicator of the excellent job that's being done” at all the district's schools. “These efforts start at the elementary and, certainly, at the middle school level,” she said.