HAMILTON COUNTY JUNIOR/SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL

PLANNED IMPROVEMENT FOR THE SCHOOL AND DISTRICT

Based on your school’s improvement plan, your school and district are providing information on areas of success and areas for planned improvement below and/or on a separate sheet.

During the 2006-2007 school year, Hamilton County Junior/Senior High School will celebrate five complete years of operation as a grades 7-12 learning institution. Many exciting and rewarding educational experiences have taken place during this time frame.

The students, faculty and staff are still very proud of the facility and students are continuing to make academic gains. With our school having modern science labs, a state-of-the-art media center, a multi-purpose commons area and various computer labs, our students benefit from an excellent learning environment.

As noted on the school report card, students at Hamilton County Junior/Senior High School demonstrated both strengths and weaknesses on the Illinois Standards Achievement Test and the Prairie State Achievement Exam.

During the spring of 2006 the ISAT was given to students in grade seven in the areas of science, reading and math; at the grade eight level students were tested in the areas of reading and math. The writing component was not tested in 2006.

On the 2006 ISAT, Hamilton County seventh grade students performed well in Reading. There were only 1.1 % of our students at the academic warning. Seventy-three percent of our seventh graders either met or exceeded standards. In Math, there were only 1.1% of our students at the academic warning. Seventy-eight and seven tenths percent of our seventh graders either met or exceeded standards. In Science, there were only 6.7% our students at academic warning. Eighty-six and five tenths percent of our seventh graders either met or exceeded standards. State scores were not available for comparison.

Hamilton County eighth graders scored well in the areas of reading and mathematics. In Reading, 1.0% of our students fell in the academic warning category, and 76.3 % of our students met or exceeded standards. In Mathematics, only 2.2% of our students were at academic warning, and 71.0 % of our students met or exceeded standards. State scores were not available for comparison.

Hamilton County eleventh grade students scored above the state average on the PSAE in reading, mathematics, and science. In reading, 61.7% of our students met or exceeded standards, compared to a state average of 59.5%. On the mathematics section, 53.1% of our students tested met or exceeded standards as opposed to the 52.8% state average. In science, 54.3% of our students met or exceeded standards, compared to the state average of 52.4%.

The College Readiness Report for the Hamilton County Senior High School denotes scores that are less positive than the PSAE. This report reflects the achievement of eleventh grade students in the academic areas of English, mathematics, reading, and science. It is designed to measure the skills needed for success in first year college coursework. Hamilton County students scored a 18.9 in English compared to a state average of 20.2, a 19.2 in mathematics compared to a state average of 20.3, a 19.2 in reading compared to a state average of 20.6, a score of 20.2 in science compared to a state average of 20.4, and a composite of 19.5 compared to a national average of 20.5.

For the 2006-07 school year, the faculty has chosen the following two goals that will be our focus for school improvement during the next year: 1. All students will improve their ability to apply math skills across the curriculum. 2. All students will increase their reading comprehension and writing skills across the curriculum.

The faculty and staff will continue its effort to more closely aligning the junior/senior high curriculum to the Illinois Learning Standards. Teachers will spend time examining and choosing outside resources that will better prepare students in taking various standardized tests.

In addition, a committee comprised of teachers, administration and board of education will review the new State Graduation Requirements (P.A. 94-0676 (SB 575) and plan for implementation of changes in minimum state-required courses for students graduating in 2009, which is the current tenth graders. The new graduation requirements will change the district requirement of two years credit in mathematics to three. Students graduating in 2010 must also have two years credit in writing-intensive classes, one of which must be an English course. Our district does not currently offer a writing-intensive course. Also beginning in 2010, the new mathematics requirement will include a minimum of one year of Algebra I and one year that includes geometry content. The committee is also implementing the WIN Curriculum (Internet based) with our current junior class with full implementation for sophomores and juniors beginning with the 2007-2008 school year. In addition, the committee has determined that more information needs to be made available to students and parents as to the benefits of higher scores on the College Readiness Testing or the ACT.