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 2007-2008 school
year, Hamilton County Junior/Senior High School will celebrate seven 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 receive
a high quality education. With our
school having modern science labs, a state-of-the-art media center, a
multi-purpose commons area and various computer labs, and mobile 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 2008 the
ISAT was given to students in grade seven in the areas of science, reading and
math; at the eighth grade level students were tested in the areas of reading, math,
and writing.
On the 2008 ISAT, Hamilton
County seventh grade students performed well in Reading. There were only
1% of our students at the academic warning.
Seventy-five and two tenths percent of our seventh graders either met
or exceeded standards. The
percentage of seventh grade students across the state who met or exceeded
standards was seventy-seven and seven tenths percent. In Math, there were 1% of our students
at the academic warning. Eighty-four
and two tenths percent of our seventh graders either met or exceeded
standards as compared with a state average of eighty and four tenths percent. In Science, there were only 3.0%
our students at academic warning. Eighty-five
and one tenth percent of our seventh graders either met or exceeded
standards as compared with a state average of seventy-nine and one tenth percent.
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 81.9% of our students met or
exceeded standards as compared to a state average of eighty-one and four tenths
percent. In Mathematics,
only nine tenths percent of our students were at academic warning, and
81.1 % of our students met or exceeded standards as compared to a
state average of eighty and four tenths percent. In Writing, 15% of our students fell in
the academic warning category, and 40% of our students met or
exceeded standards as compared to a state average of sixty-three percent.
Hamilton County eleventh
grade students scored below the state average on the PSAE in reading,
mathematics, science, and writing. In
reading, 33.8% of our students met or exceeded standards, compared
to a state average of 53.3%. On the
mathematics section, 35.1% of our students tested met or exceeded
standards as opposed to the 53% state average. In science, 33.8% of our students met or
exceeded standards, compared to the state average of 51.2%. In writing, 31.3% of our students met or
exceeded standards as compared to the state average of 56%.
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 16.8 in English compared to a state average of 19.6, a 17.7
in mathematics compared to a state average of 20.3, a 17.0 in reading compared
to a state average of 20.0, a score of 18.0 in science compared to a state
average of 20.1, and a composite of 17.6 compared to a national average of 20.1.
For the 2008-09 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.
The faculty and staff will set
up quarterly department meetings to evaluate student progress and discuss
curricular transitions. A copy of the
agenda will be submitted to the principal for each meeting.
The writing intensive course
will be re-evaluated by the English department to determine if changes are
necessary as related to the State Graduation Requirements (P.A. 94-0676
(SB 575).
Writing is an area of concern
for our entire school district; therefore, writing workshops will be encouraged
for any staff member who would like to attend.
In addition, for the
2008-2009 school year we will implement (mandatory for all juniors) the WIN
Curriculum (Internet based Work Keys Training), which will be a semester long
course. Also, 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.