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Deerfield District 109 sees high achievement
District 109 report card
DEERFIELD HIGH SCHOOL REPORT CARD
Based on 11th graders tested
• 90.6 percent met or exceeded state testing goals
• Reading: 61.7 percent met goals, 27 percent exceeded goals
• Math: 63.1 percent met goals, 28.6 percent exceeded goals
• Science: 59.2 percent met goals, 32.2 percent exceeded goals
• Composite ACT score average of 26.9. State average is 20.6.
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Updated: November 27, 2012 1:47PM
DEERFIELD — Five of the six schools in Deerfield Public Schools District 109 made Adequate Yearly Progress under the federal No Child Left Behind Act, according to the 2011-12 school report card released by the Illinois State Board of Education.
“ISAT (Illinois Standards Achievement Test) is only one measure we use to assess student growth and determine how we can improve as a district,” said Cathy Kedjidjian, District 109’s coordinator of communications. “We have a robust set of assessments that allow us to measure growth.”
Caruso Middle School was the only District 109 school that did not make AYP standards. The school’s report card shows 73 percent of Caruso’s disabled student population met or exceeded state reading standards. The 2012 safe harbor target was set at 83.4 percent. The total student body and every subgroup must meet the targets for the school to make AYP.
Overall at Caruso, 95.5 percent of students met or exceeded standards while 76.7 percent of students reached the targets statewide.
Both District 109 middle schools, Caruso and Shepard, were ranked in the Chicago Sun-Times’ top 100 middle schools in the state. Out of 1,423 buildings, Caruso is ranked 86 and Shepard came in at 48.
The district’s highest-ranking elementary school was Walden, which is ranked 62 out of 2,202 elementary schools. South also cracked the top 100 at No. 95, according to the Sun-Times’ annual report card.
The No Child Left Behind Act states that all students in public schools must meet state standards in reading and math before 2014. Until then, the State Board of Education has set gradual targets. The ISBE stated in its school report cards that, to meet AYP, at least 85 percent of ISAT tested students must meet or exceed state reading and math standards.
Though the district wide scores are high, Kedjidjian said the district would still like to move more students into the “exceeds” category.
“Our professional development will focus on Common Core expectations, as they will be the concepts that are tested in the future,” Kedjidjian said.
Deerfield High School also scored high marks across the board, including ACT scores well above the state average.
The Sun-Times ranked DHS sixth out of the state’s 689 high schools.
The report shows DHS students not only met or exceeded state minimum standards in math, reading and science, but 11th graders also posted an average ACT score of 26.9, well above that state ACT average of 20.6.
Sue Hebson, assistant superintendent for instruction for District 113, said the scores and ranking make the district “extremely proud.”
“This reflects that Deerfield is a great academic school, both historically and presently,” Hebson said. “For the past five years, we have held steady or improved.”
Hebson credits District 109’s feeder schools for preparing students for the high school curriculum.
“It’s clear education is strong among community values,” Hebson said. “Our high school is an academically challenging environment because our teachers are so well disciplined. I can’t say enough about their expertise.”
Hebson said Advanced Placement testing scores also measure the school’s progress.
“We’ve seen an increase of 200 percent over the past 10 years in the amount of students passing those tests,” Hebson said. “We now have a 90 percent passing rate.”
