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 six 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 2007 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, math, and writing.

On the 2007 ISAT, Hamilton County seventh grade students performed well in Reading. There were none of our students at the academic warning. Eighty-two and eight 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-three percent. In Math, there were none of our students at the academic warning. Eighty-seven and eight tenths percent of our seventh graders either met or exceeded standards as compared with a state average of seventy-nine percent. In Science, there were only 2.0% our students at academic warning. Ninety-two and nine tenths percent of our seventh graders either met or exceeded standards as compared with a state average of seventy-nine 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 83% of our students met or exceeded standards as compared to a state average of eighty-two percent. In Mathematics, only 3% of our students were at academic warning, and 84.0 % of our students met or exceeded standards as compared to a state average of eighty-one percent. In Writing, 13% of our students fell in the academic warning category, and 46% 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, and science. In reading, 46.3% of our students met or exceeded standards, compared to a state average of 54.0%. On the mathematics section, 38.8% of our students tested met or exceeded standards as opposed to the 52.7% state average. In science, 41.9% of our students met or exceeded standards, compared to the state average of 51.0%.

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 18.0 in English compared to a state average of 19.5, a 18.7 in mathematics compared to a state average of 20.2, a 19.6 in reading compared to a state average of 19.8, a score of 18.2 in science compared to a state average of 19.9, and a composite of 18.8 compared to a national average of 20.0.

For the 2007-08 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.

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 2007-2008 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.