1

TO: Dr. Bruce Law, Superintendent FROM: Pam Bylsma, Assistant Superintendent for Academics Arwen Pokorny Lyp, District Assessment and Evaluation Director and Hinsdale South Assistant Principal John Bruesch, Hinsdale Central Assistant Principal for Curriculum and Instruction

DATE: September 29, 2016 RE: Academic Report on Student Performance and Achievement Measures

At the upcoming Board of Education meeting, we will discuss the attached document, which summarizes District 86’s academic data from the 2015-16 school year as compared to previous years, as well as to state, national, and global performance levels. While this report is rich in information, it only skims the surface of data analysis in District 86, which is an on-going, decision-making process at both the district and building levels. The report shares the data in charts and graphs, highlights areas of celebration and growth, and considers future action regarding the following performance indicators:

ACT Test Results – Data from two major ACT reports will be analyzed in this section. First, performance of the

graduating Class of 2016 will be examined. The final ACT exam that each student took is used for this report. The Class of 2016 represents the last graduating class to take the ACT as a mandated exam. As you may recall, this April assessment historically had been paid by the state of Illinois; however, due to the budget impasse, District 86 paid for our students to have access to a free ACT exam during the school day. Moving forward, beginning with the Class of 2017, junior students will take the SAT with Writing instead of the ACT, which will be funded by the state this year.

EXPLORE to ACT Growth for the Class of 2016 – These data are particularly significant since they measure academic growth for a cohort of students over the course of their high school career rather than measuring academic attainment at fixed point in time, such as a score earned on a single standardized test. The EXPLORE was given to the Class of 2016 in the fall of their 8

th grade year as the 9

th grade placement test. These same students then took the

PLAN test the fall of their 10th grade year, and the ACT test in the spring of their 11

th grade year. The majority of

students at both schools took additional ACT tests on national testing dates. Growth was measured from each student’s EXPLORE test to his/her best ACT score and then compared to what is expected on this national growth metric. These results serve as an indicator of the value added by our District’s rigorous curriculum and quality instructional staff.

Advanced Placement Testing – The Advanced Placement (AP) program offers nationally recognized, highly regarded, rigorous college-level courses to high school students. In order to be sanctioned to teach AP courses, high school instructors must earn approval through the College Board, the organization that develops AP curriculum, creates the exams, and grades the exams. Participation in AP courses is strongly encouraged in District 86 in order to expose students to college coursework in a supportive environment designed to help students develop the skills and habits that will translate into future success in a postsecondary setting. In an effort to narrow the achievement gap, educators across the nation have been specifically targeting minority and low income students, who historically have experienced limited access to AP curriculum. District 86 has embraced this goal and encourages all students to explore their potential to succeed in AP courses. The progress District 86 has made in this area of equity and access can be seen in several new charts in this year’s report that compare AP course enrollments with the district’s rising number of economically disadvantaged students.

ACCESS 2.0 Testing for English Language Learners (ELLs) – “School districts must annually assess the English language proficiency, including aural comprehension (listening), speaking, reading, and writing skills, of all children of limited English-speaking ability in kindergarten and any of grades 1 through 12 (Section 14C-3 of the School Code) using the English language proficiency assessment prescribed by the State Superintendent of Education.” ACCESS is the ELL assessment that has been selected in Illinois and distributed at no cost to public schools. It is a standards-based, criterion referenced English language proficiency test designed to measure English language learners' social and academic proficiency in English, as well as the language associated with language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies within the school context across the four language domains. It is designed to assess student progress, and all identified ELLs must take the test each year until they reach proficiency, including students whose parents

2

have refused language support services. Due to the fact that only five ELLs took the ACT last year, the performance of this subgroup of learners cannot be analyzed with any reliability. Thus, the results of our ELLs performance on the ACCESS 2.0 test during 2015-16 will be examined to determine how well our programming is serving this population of learners.

National Merit Scholarship Program – The National Merit Scholarship Program is an annual competition for college

undergraduate awards in which secondary school students who rank at the top of the academic ability scale are identified and publicly honored. Annually, more than 1.5 million students enter this competition by taking the Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test (PSAT)/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (NMSQT). Students are notified early in their senior year if they qualify for various levels of recognition, some of which require the students to submit an application to advance further in the competition. This year’s academic report includes the results of our District 86 students who participated in this prestigious event and earned national awards and scholarships.

Furthermore, this report only skims the surface of data analysis in District 86, which is an on-going, decision-making process. As mentioned in the “Supporting Student Success” Curriculum and Instruction presentation to the Board of Education on September 19, 2016, each school’s School Improvement and Response to Intervention teams meet regularly to dissect the results of these assessments, additional progress monitoring results, and other data sources, such as grades, attendance, and behavioral referrals. In conclusion, this report demonstrates the commitment District 86 makes to extending our tradition of excellence for all students, regardless of their previous academic preparation or achievement. Our goal is to hold every student to high standards while providing all with the opportunity and supports required to help them reach their potential.

2015-16 Student Performance and Achievement Measures Highlights

D86 graduates of 2016 outperformed their state and national cohorts by a statistically significant margin in ACT Reading, English, Math, Science and Composite categories.

Special Education students at Central continued to improve their composite ACT scores and their individual test scores in all areas, outpacing the state average for regular education students in the all areas.

D86 students grow at significantly greater rates from EXPLORE to ACT as compared to the expected national growth rate of 5 points, with South averaging 6.3 points and Central averaging 7.6.

The rate at which D86 ELL students reach the English proficiency level required for exiting

the program far exceeds all other school districts in DuPage County.

Both buildings set new records in the total number of AP course enrollments despite South’s decline in overall building enrollment.

Both schools continued the trend of increasing the number of low-income, Black and Hispanic students participating in the AP program with Hinsdale South decreasing the participation gap by 1% for low-income students and 3% for black students.

South set new record in the number of graduates taking at passing at least one AP course

with Central showing a 5% improvement in this area over the last five years.

AP passing rates of 71.8% at South and 89.4% at Central are solidly impressive once again,

especially when compared to the state, national, and global rates.

At Central, 490 students earned national AP Scholar Recognition, and 243 students at South achieved this honor, their highest number to date.

District 86 has much to be proud of with 80 students in the class of 2017 earning some level of prestigious recognition for the National Merit Scholarship organization.

3

STUDENT PERFORMANCE AND ACHIEVEMENT

INDICATORS

Board of Education Report

October 3, 2016

4

ACT PERFORMANCE

INDICATORS

GRADUATING CLASS OF 2016

5

ACT 5-YEAR TRENDS: Average and Composite Scores The Explore scores of the freshmen entering Hinsdale South have averaged 2.17 points below that of their counterparts at Central as measured on the EXPLORE. This has been true for over fifteen years. This fact must be kept in mind as a primary reference point when comparing Central’s performance to South’s. Furthermore, according ACT’s 2008 Reasonable Growth report, “ACT research shows that, in the typical high school today, the level of academic achievement that students attain by eighth grade has a larger impact on their college and career readiness by the time they graduate from high school than anything that currently happens academically in the typical U.S. high school.” The report sites decades of data indicating that schools should expect students who enter high school with Explore scores that indicate “on-track” status will grow from Explore to ACT at rate higher that their “off-track” and “significantly off-track” peers. Both buildings have used this report to commit to provide ongoing interventions and rigorous curriculum for all students, especially for students who enter high school with “off-track” Explore scores.

a. Highlights Reading and English: For the Class of 2016, Hinsdale Central saw the highest reading sub-score in a five-year

history, and Hinsdale South and District scores were consistent with above average historical trends when compared to the state and nation. This is significant because the ACT was recently redesigned to align with the more rigorous Common Core standards. The more challenging test combined with the stress that vulnerable learners experience while in a high stakes standardized testing environment likely accounts for the minor decrease in South’s reading and English average scores. In addition, Hinsdale South’s scores reflect the culmination of the ongoing commitment to ensure all students have access to a rigorous program

6

of study and demonstrate the positive impact of the District’s effort to provide academic interventions that support all students in their mastery of grade-level standards. Specifically, both buildings are fostering a building-wide commitment on literacy skill development and intensive reading interventions.

Math and Science: In these curricular areas, both schools performed well above the state average, too. While South student performance was 0.5 lower than the previous year in Science, it was 1.7 points above the state average and 1.7 above the national average. Math went down by 0.4, but the students still outpaced their state and national peers by a significant margin. At Central, average scores for Math had a slight decrease while Science increased by 0.1, but in both areas, the scores far outpaced the state and national averages by close to 6 points.

Composite: District 86 graduates of 2016 outperformed their state and national cohorts by a statistically significant margin. Considering that these are their competitors in terms of post-secondary college and technical program admissions and workplace success, our students are well situated for their future endeavors.

b. Areas for Growth

Even though this is the last class that will take the ACT, District 86 administrators see the areas where scores dropped from 2015 to 2016 as areas of focus in the transition to the SAT. For example, Literacy Intervention teams in both buildings are helping teachers adapt their lesson plan to the SAT and are using historical strengths and challenges of how students performed on the ACT to guide their work. Providing opportunities for students to interpret and write about multiple sources rich, non-fiction text remains a focus at both buildings. In addition, District 86 shares these ACT data with test preparation companies, such as Excel EDGE and Kaplan, which will offer SAT preparation courses to District 86 students. They will customize their programs based on the strengths and challenges of their current students.

c. Current Action Steps Using Measures for Academic Progress (MAP) as a universal screener in reading provides data to diagnose

specific learning deficits in the freshman and sophomore years, so that intensive, targeted interventions can take place early in a student’s high school career. MAP is also being used in math for students who have already been identified as needing additional support so that interventions can be designed to target both groups of students and individuals depending on the need. Examples of these interventions include Academic Reading and supported math courses with smaller class sizes, Achieve 3000 Literacy and KnowRe, Math programs, and direct instruction provided by a math or literacy interventionist.

Both buildings are utilizing trainers from the Consortium of Educational Change (CEC) to improve the use of collaborative teaching structures (co-teaching) in these supported courses. In addition, Hinsdale South is using the CEC to redesign the Algebra 1 course to allow for multiple learning pathways via the unpacking of the Algebra 1 Common Core State Standards. These plans will continue this school year and in the summer to complete the same work with South’s Geometry and Algebra 2/Trigonometry courses.

For the 2016-17 year, math interventionist have been identified at both schools to providing targeted interventions to students in need of additional support in areas of math. Individualized online curriculum programs, such as KnowRe and Edgenuity’s My Learning Path, are being used to help students who have gaps in their math knowledge.

At both schools, the expanded use of Achieve3000, a non-fiction, literacy skill building computer program that responds to a student’s reading Lexile level, will enhance our reading interventions in Social Studies, English, Science, and Special Education classes.

Sender school articulation continues in both buildings to help align curriculum, instruction, and assessment practices as we transition to using PSAT 8/9 for 9th grade placement.

During late start time, teachers are collaborating on instructional teams to analyze data and design curriculum and interventions for students on their course teams. Through this collaborative approach, teachers continue to implement best practices in assessment literacy and formative assessment. The use of the Danielson Framework ensures the District’s ongoing commitment to student-centered learning while incorporating John Hattie’s “Visible Learning” research into the fabric of the teaching community.

7

EXPLORE TO ACT GROWTH PERFORMANCE

INDICATORS

CLASSES OF 2010 - 2016

8

EXPLORE TO ACT COMPOSITE GROWTH For the Graduating Classes of 2010 – 2016

Information Relevant to the Above Table: 1. How Growth was Calculated - District 86 calculates students' EXPLORE - ACT growth from the highest ACT scores of the graduated seniors that the students shared with their schools.

2. Expected Growth - ACT examined the average scores of 230,000 students who participated in the EXPLORE, PLAN, and ACT tests. A stratified sample was used to represent the racial composition, geographic regions, annual family income, and demographic characteristics of the students to closely represent the population of high school student nationwide. This study found that the average growth was the greatest for the group of students who were on target for college and career readiness in eighth grade. That expected growth from composite EXPLORE score to composite ACT score is 5 points for students who have achieved the EXPLORE benchmark for college readiness. This report outlines that students who are academically at-risk and enter high school below this benchmark achieve less growth. The ACT studies show that the average growth for these students is 3.9 points.

EXPLORE TO ACT COMPOSITE GROWTH a. Highlights

An analysis of District 86 EXPLORE to ACT growth rates continues to indicate that students enrolled at South and Central grow at significantly greater rates as compared to the national ACT expected growth rate of 5 points. This is a true area of celebration, especially in light of the number of vulnerable learners who enter our District at South. Demographic trends show that the percentage of low income students continues to rise at South, reaching 35% of the student population during the time these data were collected. This fact, combined with the percentage of students entering with lower math and reading scores makes the school’s average of 6.3 growth points impressive and indicates that their School Improvement Plan has been making a difference in student outcomes. Additionally, Central’s growth rate of 7.6 composite growth continues to outpace expectations even as their number of vulnerable learners has doubled over the last 5 years.

b. Areas for Growth At the school and District levels, curriculum leaders continue to concentrate on helping the students performing in the lowest quartile on these assessments. Additional targeted interventions are being added to what is currently occurring at each school in order to increase the academic achievement for vulnerable

learners. Both schools continue to narrow the achievement gaps.

c. Current Action Steps As noted previously, this is the final year for reporting EXPLORE to ACT growth rates due to the state’s commitment to use the SAT as its mandated high school performance assessment. Over the coming years, the District will need to modify how to track student growth as the assessments move from the ACT suite of products (EXPLORE, PLAN, ACT) to the College Board’s suite of products (PSAT 8/9, PSAT, SAT). Different combinations of 8th grade placement assessments and 11th grade state mandated assessments will need to be used to determine student growth. The chart that follows captures this ever-changing assessment landscape as it impacts cohorts of graduates.

9

DISTRICT 86 STUDENT GROWTH ASSESSMENT TRANSITION PLAN

10

ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS

ACCESS STATE TESTING PERFORMANCE

INDICATORS

WINTER TESTING 2016

11

ACCESS 2.0 TESTING RESULTS

a. Highlights ACCESS 2.0 is a new version of the ACCESS test for ELLs. The test consists of four sections: reading, writing, listening, and speaking. This test, now administered as a computer-delivered exam, was updated to align with the Common Core standards, in order to accurately assess the increased rigor expected of all students, including ELLs. Online testing was successful and all students at South and Central completed all sections of the assessment within the testing window and without errors on the state report in May. Many schools across the state saw a drop in scores due to new online testing format, increased rigor, and standardized delivery via computers; however, District 86 students performed above the average in DuPage County (see chart below). Over the past two years, with the Board’s support, District 86 consolidated its ELL program, adjusted curriculum in ESL courses to the Common Core, expanded the number of sheltered courses with qualified teachers to include Health, Consumer Economics, and Biology in addition to English and Social Studies, provided summer curriculum money to improve instructional strategies, improve assessments and raise content standards, sent sheltered teachers to national conferences, pushed the collaborative support of EL paraprofessional into content classes, and hired a dynamic, bright District ELL Coordinator to oversee the enhancement of services and programming. All of these improvements contributed to our scores strengthening in 2016, even with the revised, more rigorous version of the test. For our district, our overall average actually went UP. We conclude that the adjustments over the past years have indeed provide more access to viable curriculum and supports for ELLs, resulting in impressive performance outcomes for these vulnerable learners. Since the goal of ACCESS testing is to determine how many of a District’s ELLs have become English language proficient, the measure of success is how many students are exited from services due to a lack of need for further assistance. Thus, the percentage of students exiting the program becomes a cause for celebration when the number is large. As seen by the chart below, District 86 continues to improve its exit rate. The Exit Criteria are as follows: 5.0 Overall Composite, 4.2 Literacy Composite (reading and writing tests).

To put our exit rate in perspective, it helps to compare it to other county high schools. While it would be helpful to compare to our usual list of high schools, we are unable to see their data. Only DuPage County data is shared with us. Clearly, our exit rate far outpaces that of other schools in our area, as shown below.

b. Areas for Growth

Despite a successful testing year, our ELL department would like to see further growth in content areas specifically. We would like to see more content areas co-taught with a certified ELL teacher rather than a push-in model with an ELL paraprofessional. Many of our paraprofessionals are certified ESL endorsed teachers, and we

District 86 Historical Testing and Exit Data Year Total Tested Total Exit Percent Exit

2013 48 16 33%

2014 40 19 47%

2015 40 18 45%

2016 46 23 50%

DuPage County High School ACCESS Testing and Exit Data 2016 School District Total Tested Total Exit Percent Exit

Downers Grove 99 118 38 32%

Addison 88 223 51 22%

West Chicago 94 228 71 31%

Hinsdale 86 46 23 50%

12

would like to develop their skill sets in order to assist more in the classroom for curriculum development and differentiation. Our current model utilizes four paraprofessionals in different content areas across the school to assist students. In conjunction with the classroom support, we are continuing to offer sheltered courses this year: Consumer Economics EL (co-taught) and World Cultures EL (teacher ESL endorsed). Last year, our co-taught Health EL course and US History EL were successful in bridging the gap for our English learners. We hope to see more growth in these courses to better support our students.

c. Current Action Steps

Our current action plan includes steps to continue developing the work from over the summer and during Late Start Days for our ESL teacher and ELL Coordinator regarding curriculum alignment. In addition, continued collaboration with our co-taught Consumer Education course during Late Start Days with the work they completed over the summer, making the Consumer Education class not just differentiated for EL students but a 21st century classroom as well. The ELL Coordinator continues to work with the World Cultures EL teacher to provide best practices strategies for EL students. In addition to the ESL teacher, ELL Coordinator and World Cultures teacher being trained in the SIOP model (Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol), we are sending the sheltered Health and Consumer Education teachers to this training in order to provide research-based strategies for their sheltered classrooms. All of these actions separately are good teaching and professional learning. However, collectively, they will enhance the learning experience for our ELLs, demonstrate more growth on the ACCESS 2.0 test in 2017, and allow for a collaborative approach between teachers who impact our English Language Learners.

13

ADVANCED PLACEMENT PERFORMANCE

INDICATORS

SPRING TESTING 2016

14

AP COURSE PARTICIPATION Number of AP Course Enrollments Compared to Building Enrollment and

Number of Low-Income Students by Year The purpose of the following charts is to demonstrate that while the number of economically disadvantaged students in both buildings has increased, the number of AP course enrollments is growing at the same time. This is cause for celebrating the continued efforts to promote a culture of rigor in District 86. According to the research of John Hattie, a student’s socioeconomic status has an effect size of .54 on their educational outcomes. This means that given our District’s demographic shift, research would suggest that a decline in AP enrollment would occur. However, through the work of dedicated teachers and administrators, support systems have been put in place to ensure that equity and access for all students continues.

15

AP COURSE PARTICIPATION Percentage of Graduates (by graduating class) who have

Successfully Passed At Least One AP Course

16

1. PERCENTAGE OF GRADUATES (by graduating class) WHO HAVE SUCCESSFULLY PASSED AT LEAST ONE AP COURSE a. Highlights

Both schools strive to increase the number of students enrolling in AP courses. Each year these numbers have grown as curriculum and building leaders share quality information with parents through evening programs, published materials, guest speakers, former graduate testimonies, and other innovative programs, such as summer school opportunities to level up students in math. Quality course selection decisions are made when invested teachers and counselors encourage students to take these courses. The payoff can be seen in the chart and in the data below:

South continues to see AP enrollment going up despite have a decline in overall building enrollment.

Both buildings set new records in the total number of AP course enrollments.

South set new record in the number of graduates taking at passing at least one AP course, and Central has seen a 5% improvement in this area over the last five years.

b. Areas for Growth There is a concerted effort to increase AP and Honors opportunities for students who have not traditionally been a part of these rigorous experiences. Extensive data analysis has identified students with AP potential and as a result, both buildings see more students enrolling in these rigorous courses.

Central: It is important to note that there are a number of honors capstone classes in the core content areas at Central that high achieving students may take in lieu of an AP course, thereby reducing the possible number of total AP enrollments. Some examples include Honors Seminar in Writing, Philosophy Honors, Math Topics Honors, Honors Latin American Studies, and Honors Spanish Studies. These are very valuable student experiences that allow for in-depth curriculum study in areas of passion for students. The existence of these rigorous, popular courses reduces the total enrollment in AP course, which is entirely fine with the curricular leaders in the building and district. That said, Central leaders are excited to utilize a new data mining tool to drill down for select students to continue to increase their enrollment numbers. They will continue to reevaluate curriculum sequencing in order to gain more student access to these opportunities. Some potential examples are looking at areas where honors courses compete with AP course offerings, and where resequencing makes sense for the students and their growth. For example, in the World Language Department, Central will offer AP German next year rather than German 4 Honors. To further increase AP options in World Languages, there is a goal to advance more students into AP Spanish Language. The Math Department is looking to increase growth in its Computer Science Principles, which is a new class this year. In addition, work to refine the Science course sequencing is continuing in an effort to promote growth in AP Chemistry. Department Chairs are reaching out to AP potential students in English 2 who are capable of advancing into AP Language and in World Cultures who are capable of advancing into AP European History. As noted in the Summer School report, new efforts are under way to accelerate capable students in mathematics who enter in Algebra in order to open us access to AP Calculus by senior year.

South: Current Math Department goals have been established to increase enrollment in AP Calculus AB, AP Statistics, and AP Computer Science Principles. To support first time AP learners, South will offer a summer AP Stats Bridge course and continue to find ways to accelerate students learning in math to increase honors and AP opportunities. They redesigned their Algebra 1 Block to create an honors pathway for students who start high school below Geometry and will provide Geometry in summer school, which will make AP math courses, such as AP Statistics possible by the senior year. South now offers both Integrated Algebra and Geometry Honors to create more opportunities for students to have a chance to reach AP Calculus when they are seniors. Additionally, the Science Department would like to see AP Environmental Science continue to grow even though 2015-16 saw the highest enrollment in the

17

last 5 years. This is a perfect option as the first AP course for students to take. The Department Chair wants to continue to see the test taking rate in that class grow as well. Finally, South will explore applying to the College Board for approval to teach the Seminar and Research Capstone courses that Central received permission to offer.

Both Schools: AP Government is expected to grow in both buildings with the implementation of the new state civics graduation requirement.

c. Current Action Steps The District 86 summer school program provides acceleration opportunities, specially targeted in the areas

of AP English Language and AP Statistics. Summer 2017 will see the implementation of math acceleration courses designed to increase the number of students able to enroll in AP Calculus.

At South there are a variety of programs designed to actively encourage traditionally underrepresented students in AP programming. These include (a) the summer Hornet Challenge/Rigor Boot Camp class designed to provide first time AP or honors students with a jumpstart on the curriculum and skills needed for success, (b) the SHAPE Program (Sharing Hornet AP Experiences) which provides direct instruction of social and emotional learning skills targeted for honors students, and (c) The RISE program (Recruit and Identify to Support and Educate) which provides a full-period of additional supported instruction in AP Psychology and other areas that become identified.

At Central, AP Capstone Research will be offered for the first time in the upcoming year. It follows the AP Capstone Seminar course that was available to students this year.

Continue vertically aligning courses within each department to prepare students for AP experiences and teach them the skills to be successful in an AP course.

As we formally implement Social and Emotional Learning practices into District 86 curricula, we will be continuing to encourage students and parents to balance life stress with course selections, and as a result, may see some students choosing to enroll in fewer AP courses. We utilize District 86 AP/Honors Work Load Matrix to help our families make informed decisions.

18

AP COURSE ACCESS

In its AP Report to the Nation, the College Board stated that, “True equity is not achieved until the demographics of AP participation and performance reflect the demographics of the nation. The AP Program shares educators’ mission to connect traditionally underserved minority students to AP courses and encourages schools to make every effort to ensure that their AP classes reflect the racial and ethnic diversity of their student body.” With this noble goal in mind, the following graphs and charts have been constructed to measure how District 86 students from these subgroups are faring in terms of open access to AP courses.

19

2. AP COURSE ACCESS: Percent of Subgroup Students Taking AP Tests by Building/Year a. Highlights

Both schools have essentially created full access to the AP program for Hispanic students, and Hinsdale Central has achieved this for their black students. Through concerted and deliberate efforts, Hinsdale South has seen improvements in their low-income and black students accessing AP course work by decreasing the participation gap by a full percentage point for low-income students and three percentage points for black students.

b. Areas for Growth South: Given that so many of South’s low-income and Black students enter high school with Explore scores

that are “off-track” and “significantly off-track”, while South has made progress in closing the participation gap, there is still much work to be done.

Central: Hinsdale Central’s participation gap for their Black students has increased by two percentages points since 2013.

c. Current Action Steps During 9th grade course placement, the School Improvement Teams at both buildings should strive to

ensure that steps are taken to ensure that low-income and minority 8th grade students who demonstrate some of the criteria needed to succeed in honors-level courses are given the chance to do so, even if their placement scores are lower than the set cut-scores. In addition, the buildings use data disaggregated by these historically underrepresented subgroups to personally invite students earning As and Bs in regular-level course to enroll in honor or AP the following year.

South plans to begin the DuPage County “Voices” program designed to offer a supportive environment for Black and Hispanic students so they can raise their personal and group aspirations and set goals that help them advance to the point where they can take at least one AP course prior to graduation. In addition, South will continue their “College Knowledge” Program that provides adult and peer mentoring to a cohort of 9th grade African-American male students who have test scores and grades that indicate college readiness. This group meets regularly during the school year and the activities culminate with a formal college visit day where students visit two or three different colleges. The purpose of this is for these students to connect that challenging themselves with rigorous high school course work has significant pay-outs in the end.

South has created a formal mentoring program, “Thrive” with Burr Ridge Middle School to provide positive student-to-student relationships for 9th grade students. The groups stated purpose is to “Identify students who may struggle to transition and thrive in a high school setting and support them through mentorship and partnering with parents.”

20

AP EXAM PARTICIPATION Summary Charts

SOUTH

CENTRAL

21

AP EXAM PARTICIPATION

Percentage of Students Enrolled in AP Courses Who Take the Exam

AP EXAM PERFORMANCE Percentage of AP Test-takers who Receive a Score of 3 or Higher

2015 Pass Rates Illinois = 66%

National = 57.9% Global = 61%

22

3. AP TEST PARTICIPATION and PASS RATES: a. Highlights

The goal is for all students who are enrolled in the AP class to take the test as the culminating experience. This will most thoroughly prepare the students for the college experience. Thus, it is good news that our percentage of test takers per course enrollment remains high. The last time the College Board shared the national percentage of students in AP classes taking the exam was in 2011. At that time, only 76% of students in AP classes took the exam. That year our students at both schools were above that average. Passing rates should be viewed simultaneously with the rate of school AP course participation, the open access to AP courses by subgroups who historically haven’t participated, and the percentage of students in the course who take the test. In fact the College Board actively encourages schools to view a declining pass rate as a measure to celebrate their work in increasing equity and access to AP course work. With all of this in mind, the above passing rates are solidly impressive once again, especially when compared to the state, nation, and globe. This speaks to the level of preparation the students had prior to their AP courses and to the quality of the instructors in those courses.

South: Despite continued declining enrollment and a rise in students who enter high school with Explore scores indicating they are “off-track” for College and Career Readiness, South students have set a new record for number of tests given, and increased the test taking percentage by 2.1 for two consecutive years while maintaining a pass rate above national averages.

Central: While total AP course enrollments continue to increase, the pass rate remains very strong which is a testament to the work teachers are doing to increase access to rigorous content within their classrooms.

b. Areas for Growth Ultimately, the goal should be for all students who are in the course to take the exam. It is the culmination of the college-like experience. In college, students will be graded on very few high stakes assessments, so this is authentic preparation for that reality. A renowned Harvard study a few years ago demonstrated that students who took the test did better in college than those who only took the class but not the test. We know that District 86 teachers and school administrators embrace this goal and encourage all students to take the test, with little to no concern for how that may impact passing rates. This is cause for celebration. While, test taking and pass rates are important indicators of student confidence and achievement, teachers, counselors, and administrators continue to promote taking and passing the classes as the most important aspect of the experience. Thus, our AP instructors should stay the course. They are clearly preparing our students for these challenging tests, setting ambitiously high goals for all of their students. Principals, Assistant Principals, and Department Chairs continue to study the pass rates with their teachers to look for strategies to improve student outcomes.

c. Current Action Steps

AP teachers from both schools will continue to share the goal that all course participants are expected to take the test. This will be communicated to students and parents on the first day of school so that this becomes the mindset of all students in the course.

Both buildings will continue to celebrate student AP success. South’s Hornet Scholars program is designed to recognize students who embrace the challenge of taking and passing the AP exams.

The district and building administration assure AP instructors that the District values all students taking the test even though that will decrease their overall pass rate.

Continue sending teachers to AP conferences and local professional development opportunities.

23

2016 National AP Scholar Recognition

Hinsdale Township District 86

24

4. NATIONAL AP SCHOLAR RECOGNITION a. Highlights

The data included on these charts are a true cause for celebration. As both schools have increased AP course enrollment, they have simultaneously increased the total number of students recognized by the College Board as AP Scholars. Over the past five years at South, there has been a steady increase in the number of students earning nationally-awarded AP scholar status. During the same span of time, enrollment has been on the decline while the number of low-income students has been increasing, which makes this growth in scholars all the more impressive. The percentage growth in scholar recognition at Central has also significantly increased over the past five years.

b. Areas for Growth As previously stated, students that look to balance life stress may choose to take fewer AP classes in total, which may reduce the number of scholars at each school. This is evident in the decline in Hinsdale Central’s total number of AP Scholars and Central’s administration views this decline as a positive step in helping students achieve more of a “school-life” balance.

c. Current Action Steps Continue to work with students and families to balance the desire to attain these nationally competitive

honors with the amount of stress that a large number of AP courses can cause for some students.

Provide suggestion and social work groups on healthy methods of handling stress. The District Social and Emotional Learning Committee will provide resources for parents and also begin piloting Yale’s RULER curriculum.

Continue to recognize these students for their impressive accomplishments by sending out media releases, honoring them in building-level events, such as Hinsdale South’s Hornet Scholars Program, and at the Board level, sharing their names through school e-blast messages, and at awards ceremonies.

25

NATIONAL MERIT RECOGNITION PROGRAM

PERFORMANCE INDICATORS

2013 - 2017

26

NATIONAL MERIT DATA

NATIONAL MERIT RECOGNITION PROGRAM The National Merit Scholarship Program is an annual competition for college undergraduate awards in which secondary school students who rank at the top of the academic ability scale are identified and publicly honored. Students enter these competitions by taking the Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test (PSAT)/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (NMSQT) during their junior year. Students ranking among the top 50,000 in the nation are designated “Commended Scholars” by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation in the fall of their senior year. These Commended Scholars placed among the top 5% of the more than 1.5 million students who entered the competition. In September, approximately 16,000 academically talented seniors were named “National Merit Semifinalists.” This status allowed them to fulfill several requirements to advance to the “Finalist” level of the competition. “Finalists” are eligible to continue in the competition for approximately 7,000 National Merit Scholarship awards worth about $35 million, college-sponsored and approximately 1,000 Corporate-Sponsored Merit Scholarships. All winners of Merit Scholarship® awards (Merit Scholar® designees) are chosen from the Finalist group based on their abilities, skills, and accomplishments—without regard to gender, race, ethnic origin, or religious preference. Each March, the schools are informed of which finalists were on of these “Achievement Recipients.” In addition, The College Board recognizes academically outstanding Hispanic/Latino U.S. juniors who take the PSAT/NMSQT. Every year, the program recognizes about 5,000 of the 250,000 Hispanic/Latino juniors who take the test. The recognition program is an academic honor that can be included on college applications. It’s not a scholarship, but colleges do use this program to identify academically exceptional Hispanic/Latino students.

a. Highlights Both schools have students who have earned recognition from the National Merit Scholarship Corporation for their outstanding test results and finalist applications. When a school has one finalist or achievement recipient and

27

a handful of commended scholars, it is a genuine source of pride. Clearly, District 86 has much to be proud of with 80 students in the class of 2017 earning some level of prestigious recognition for the National Merit Scholarship organization.

At Central, the number of students earning recognition is staggering. Such high numbers reveal a large pool of invested students who are willing to sit for an additional standardized test in order to compete on the national level. A culture of high personal expectations and willingness to take risks clearly exists at Central. The Counseling Department has done a strong job of sharing information regarding this test and encouraging student participation.

At South, the numbers are more in line with what is seen at most schools of their size and still impressive when demographics (35% low-income students) are factored in.

b. Areas for Growth The goal last year was to increase the number of students taking the PSAT-NMSQT, which would allow more students access to this academic competition. With the move to a state-sponsored SAT for all juniors, District 86 is now funding a PSAT-NMSQT test for ALL current juniors.

c. Current Action Steps As stated above, District 86 is providing a free PSAT-NMSQT test for all current juniors, and offering the PSAT-10 for current sophomores on an opt-in basis. The former will provide access to the aforementioned achievement opportunities, while the latter will provide practice for the high stakes test. These student achievements will be shared publically at the building, Board, and community levels in order to honor the prowess of District 86’s highest performing students.