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Dear Parents/Guardians: The final 2007 state test results and Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) reports were released last fall, and I am proud to report that students in Bloomington Public Schools District 87 once again demonstrated strong achievement on the 2007 Illinois Standards Achievement Test. All six elementary schools made Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) under the Federal No Child Left Behind Act. Bloomington Junior High School students performed well in all subjects and improved their performance in math at each grade level. Bloomington High School students improved their performance on the Prairie State Achievement Exam for the second consecutive year. Both BJHS and BHS will continue working toward AYP for each of their subgroups. The Illinois Standards Achievement Test (ISAT) measures individual student achievement relative to the Illinois Learning Standards. The results give parents, teachers, and schools one measure of student learning and school performance. Students in grades 3-8 were tested in reading and math. Students in grades 4 and 7 were also tested in science. Students in grade 5 and 8 were also tested in writing. Elementary and junior high students in District 87 took the tests in March. The Prairie State Achievement Exam (PSAE) is comprised of the ACT, the WorkKeys and a state-developed Science Test. Bloomington High School juniors took the test in April. Results released by the Illinois State Board of Education indicate that: · The District’s composite score – the overall percentage of students who meet or exceed state standards in Reading, Math and Science – is 78%. · Reading scores for students in grades 3 and 4 improved over 2006. · Math scores for students in grades 6, 7 and 8 improved over 2006. For 8th grade students, this is the sixth consecutive year of improvement. Math scores at grades 3 and 4 remained stable at 91% and 89% respectively. · Bloomington High School students’ scores improved in math and science over 2006. The percentage of students meeting or exceeding state standards in math rose by 8 percentage points. · Science scores remained high in science at grades 4 and 7. The percentage of students meeting or exceeding the state standards at grade 4 rose for the 4th consecutive year. · Bent Elementary School, Oakland Elementary School and Stevenson Elementary School each had 100% of the students who entered school on or before May 1st meet or exceed the state standards in Math at the 3rd grade level. District 87 continues making progress on closing the achievement gap by improving the achievement of students in the subgroups identified by NCLB. The performance of our low income students, African American students and students with disabilities continues to improve. I commend all District 87 teachers and staff for the outstanding quality of education they provide. Their efforts, ranging from planning engaging standards-based lessons, working with colleagues to align all curricula with the state standards, building positive relationships with students and families, differentiating instruction to meet the needs of all students, providing interventions for students who struggle, doing high quality formative assessment, communicating high expectations for students and participating in meaningful professional development, make a difference for all students. I hope you share my pride in the hard work and commitment of District 87 faculty and staff. Congratulations! Sincerely, Robert S. Nielsen
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