Reading proficiency jumps in Illinois middle grades

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. -- The number of Illinois public schools with highly proficient middle-grade readers jumped significantly this year, according to standardized test results released by the State Board of Education.

In the fifth, sixth and seventh grades, the number of schools in which at least four in five pupils meet or exceed state reading standards increased by as many as 200.

But an analysis of results from the Illinois Standards Achievement Test showed school numbers for reading at other levels was unchanged. And in mathematics, the number of high-proficiency schools at each level did not change or in some cases dropped.

The gains might be part of the explanation for the state board's removal earlier this month of 46 schools and districts from an academic monitoring list required by the federal No Child Left Behind law.

"It is a lot of hard work and it requires a lot of focus by those districts on teaching and learning on a day-to-day basis," state schools Superintendent Christopher Koch said. "But I constantly encourage them and do believe that more students than currently meet standards can with that type of focus."

The Associated Press looked at schools reporting that 80 percent of their students taking ISAT math and reading tests meet or exceed expectations.

It showed huge jumps in the middle-grade reading over ISAT results reported for 2007.

In fifth grade, the number of schools reporting four in five meet or top standards increased to 847, or 40 percent of all schools statewide, from 635 schools, or 30 percent, in 2007.

In sixth grade, it grew to 821 schools, or 51 percent, from 602 schools, or 38 percent.

At the seventh grade level, 606 schools, or 44 percent, hit that mark in 2008, up from 462 schools, or 34 percent.

"There is a real focus on reading in the schools," state board spokesman Matt Vanover said. "But one of the main points would be the greater focus that is being placed on these fundamental areas since NCLB and the greater use of data in teaching. What NCLB has done is provide an awful lot of data for schools to look at, driving their decisions on curriculum and learning."

The number of schools with highly proficient readers in grades three, four and eight were virtually identical to 2007 numbers.

The number of schools with high-achieving math students slid somewhat at most grade levels in 2008, although schools generally perform better in math than reading.

Overall, 61 percent of schools reported that 80 percent or more of math test-takers meet or exceed standards in grades three through eight and 11th-grade. That compares to 42 percent of schools with comparable reading skills.

The math number is down from 63 percent in 2007, but given the strong showing in reading at the middle levels, the overall percentage of schools with proficient readers increased from 37 percent in 2007.

High school juniors continue to perform poorly in both subjects, with fewer than 3 percent of schools reporting that 80 percent of students meet standards.

That's a national trend at which Koch said the state is taking aim. Part of the problem in Illinois, experts have said since the introduction of the Prairie State Achievement Exam more than a decade ago, is that juniors don't take the test seriously.