District 68 Meets State Standards for Bilingual Students' English Language Proficiency

made the AYP-equivalent for its bilingual students in 2010, something the district did not accomplish in 2009.

All Illinois students take the ISAT, the state-administered, standardized test designed to measure a student's academic achievement. Based on a district's ISAT scores, it is determined if a district has made adequate yearly progress (AYP), or not.

Students who are English Language Learners, or students who are learning English as a secondary language, are tested for their English language proficiency on the ACCESS test. Based on a district's ACCESS scores, it is determined if a district has made annual measurable achievement objectives, or AMAO.

District 68 was notified near the end of January that it had made AMAO in 2010.

"We hadn't made it in 2009," said assistant superintendent for curriculum Dr. Rebecca Surber. "That's why we're really excited for 2010 because we did make AMAO. To turn around and make that kind of progress is really amazing."

Whether a district makes AMAO is based on three factors:

• percentage of students who make progress on the ACCESS test from one year to another
• the percentage of students deemed English language proficient
• the district's ISAT scores for the LEP subgroup (limited English proficient)

The state requires 91 percent of the district's ELL students to show progress on the ACCESS test to make AMAO -- 100 percent of District 68's ELL students did.

The state also requires 10 percent of the district's ELL students to score a 4.0 on the ACCESS test, which means the student is considered proficient at the English language and does not require further English Language Learning assistance. In 2010, 14.7 percent of the district's ELL students scored a 4.0 and will leave the ELL program.

The district's ISAT scores for the limited English proficiency group were also higher. In 2009, 59 percent of the district's LEP subgroup met or exceeded state standards in reading. In 2010, that number jumped to 66.4 percent. In math, the number jumped from 72.2 percent in 2009 to 79.7 percent in 2010.

Surber said the number of bilingual students in the district has jumped from 8.2 percent of the student population in 2000 to 15.6 percent in 2010. The two most common primary languages after English are Spanish and Arabic.

The jump in the number of bilingual students in the district has been gradual, she said, as has the district's increases to its bilingual staff.

District 68 currently employs 11 full-time, certified, bilingual staff members and is looking for another. There is a bilingual teacher in every building, and English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers spend their time between the buildings.

District 68 is also in the process of adding six Title III aides at the elementary level, who will act as teaching assistants to help the ELL program.

An ELL student can meet with this support staff daily or a couple times a week, depending on the student's English proficiency. Students are never pulled out of class during time when the classroom teacher is going over vocabulary or other language skills.

Surber said she credited the district's bilingual staff for the achievement, but also the students' classroom teachers.

"The largest percentage of students' days are spent in a classroom setting," Surber said. "It's important to have that support in the classroom."

Surber also credited making AMAO to the SMART Board added to the ELL classrooms.