D-62 Officials Optimistic About Assessment Results

School administrators said the latest results from a computerized assessment indicate students are performing well when compared with other districts.

Dr. Janice Rashid, assistant superintendent for instructional services, gave board members an annual update on the district’s performance in the Measures of Academic Progress, or MAP assessment, at their meeting June 18.

Rashid told board members, based on MAP results, 72 percent of District 62 students are expected to meet or exceed standards on the reading part of the Illinois Standard Achievement Test, or ISAT, and 86 percent on the math part.

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In an interview with Patch, Rashid and Erica Cupuro, curriculum coordinator, said students were given the MAP assessment three times a year, and educators used the results to focus on areas students need the most help with, and set goals with students.

Cupuro said results were used to make various comparisons. She said to measure growth from 2011 to 2012 educators can look at the same grade level year-after-year compared with the norm, or look at the same class as they move through each grade level.

“Either way we look at it, we have consistently gone up, and in some spots we’ve stayed the same, but we haven’t dropped at all,” Cupuro said.

Earlier:

District 62 students performed in 2012 above the 2011 norms at all but one grade level, three through eight, in reading and math. Second grade participated in MAP for the first time this school year.

Rashid said individual students and grade levels performed consistently right at or above the norm, which is what they want to see. She said at the same time the demographics of the student population changed.

“Our poverty level is increasing, students with a second language are increasing, they all are represented here in MAP,” Rashid said. “So the fact that we perform consistently and make improvements is a success.”

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Cupuro said considering all the external factors, which include the socio-economic downturn, curriculum changes and higher standards, the results were good.

“All of these external factors, our students have stayed steady with their growth,” Cupuro said. “So we’ve done better than we’ve expected to do.”

Rashid said the online assessment was an adaptive test, meaning it changes questions based on the given answers. She said the district’s investment in MAP prepared them for the future because ISAT is expected to go online.

“We’re already doing that right now, so it’s good for us,” Rashid said.