Most local elementary school districts met the benchmarks overall under the state's version of the federal No Child Left Behind legislation, but even while school officials breathe a sigh of relief, they wonder how many more years that success will last.

The target this year was for 70 percent of students to meet or exceed state standards in reading and math on the Illinois Standards Achievement Test, administered in March each year. Next year that target will be 77.5 percent and it will be 85 percent the following year. That number will climb until 100 percent of students must make the grade by 2014.

"The frustrating part is it increases by such big bumps," said Deb Derby, principal of Woodland School District in Streator, where 82.8 percent of students met or exceeded standards in reading and math this year on the ISAT.

"The challenge is moving from 70 percent to 77.5 percent to 85 percent. That 15 percent in two years, it's huge," she said. "We're doing everything we can to challenge kids, to get them to that level, but you are never going to get every kid to be there."

Already schools in Illinois are falling short. In 2008, 1,200 schools and 340 districts failed to meet the goal. In 2009, those numbers increased to 1,553 schools and 429 districts who did not make adequate yearly progress.

According the the Illinois State Board of Education, that means almost 50 percent of school districts are not making the grade. And as the target goal increases, so will the number of schools considered "failing," said educators.

"As far as NCLB, realistically, no one will ever meet at 100 percent," said Kristen School, superintendent at Waltham Elementary in Utica, where 90.5 percent of students met standards in reading and math this year. "It simply isn't possible. So to assign those graduated percentages, it is only a matter of time before all districts will fail to meet adequate yearly progress.

"What will happen? I've heard a number of ideas, but I, along with my colleagues, will be watching the federal government, followed by our state government, to see what the recommended options are and then do everything possible to weigh in. We are already keeping in close contact with our local legislators."

Most school officials applaud aspects of the law, specifically the accountability. But they do not like the single snapshot taken with one test, the ISAT, to measure how well a school is doing.

"Creativity and problem solving ability are still not measured on state tests," said Mike Matteson, superintendent of the Wallace and Rutland elementary school districts in Ottawa. At Rutland, 83.6 percent of students met standards in reading and math and at Wallace 91.6 percent of students met the goal.

"China and India may be able to copy what we do and be productive because their labor force is hungrier, but they still send their people here to learn how to be creative and to innovate," he added.

Some officials would like to see a growth model, which would track individual students to see that they are improving each year rather than prescribing a target that changes each year.

"It's not an attainable goal," said Eric Misener, superintendent at Seneca Elementary School, where 89.2 percent of students met or exceeded standards in reading and math. "We can get close and we have made progress. The whole concept is good ... We've made good gains, but we definitely want to focus on individual needs and what needs to be done so they can succeed. As the goals get higher and higher, we know schools are going to drop off."

Misener and School pointed out that not all students will do their best on the test and that can hamstring schools, no matter how much effort they put into that child's education.

"You can't always be sure you're getting consistent effort on the test. Most students do take it seriously, but some play dot-to-dot," said Misener.

School officials also said it is difficult when students frequently move in between school districts, rather than a situation where a school has that child for all nine years of elementary school. The stability of being in one district can help a child's needs be assessed and addressed, as well as knowing the curriculum is aligned to meet the state standards.

"If you start with good kids from stable homes, it is much easier to have good scores," said Matteson. "There are kids out there who keep moving and whose scores never count for anyone because they are not there long enough."

Derby points out small class sizes can make it tough to meet the goals as well. If just two or three students do not perform well in a specific grade, it can make a big dent statistically in the percentage of students meeting the goal.

Add to the mix subgroups, which also must meet the standards as a group for a school to be in compliance. A subgroup is a cluster of 45 or more students who share the same race or are considered economically disadvantaged, list English as a second language or have defined special needs.

"As far our ISAT scores go we are very pleased with the results," said Jay Streicher, director of curriculum and professional development for the Somonauk School District, where 89.3 percent of students met this year's goal.

"Our biggest concern is not so much with the bar moving higher each year for these tests as it is with the issue of subgroups. Having 'English language learners' and 'special needs' students tested the same way as other students is unfair. We use criteria that is established by the state and federal government to make students eligible for special education. This criteria establishes that it is necessary for the students to receive instruction at their own level. How fair is it to then turn around and hold them to standards that we just determined they are unable to reach?

"That is the most frustrating part of ISAT testing from an educator's perspective. It is hard to see students who are working as hard as they can and making progress throughout the year be subjected to four days of frustration to prove that they cannot achieve at the same level as their peers."

As part of his campaign promises, President Barack Obama pledged NCLB reform, but the downturn in the economy and the issue of health care reform have pushed the issue to the back burner. Educators are hoping eventually to see the law revised to be more realistic.

"I believe in accountability, whether it be through NCLB or some other form, but not to something that ties all student scores to an unrealistic percentage," said School. "Although our scores are much higher than the assigned percentages for meeting adequate yearly progress, I am certain in the next couple of years we, too, will face the same fate and label as some of our neighboring districts. My question: What happens when all schools fail to meet adequate yearly progress?"




Illinois Standards Achievement Test

Illinois Standards Achievement Test (for elementary schools)
Based on ISAT scores on tests taken in March 2009
Scores are a composit of reading and math scores on the test
Goal for this year: 70 percent of students meeting or exceeding standards

Grade school and ercent of students meeting or exceeding state standards
Sandwich 81.2
Somonauk 89.3
Woodland 82.8
Flanagan 90.1
Cornell 82.4
Newark 92.2
Leland 85.7
Unit 2 (which includes Serena, Sheridan and Harding) 89.2
Earlville 82.1
Streator 81
Allen-Otter Creek 77
Tonica 89.5
Deer Park 95.7
Grand Ridge 91.5
La Salle 77.2
Peru 86
Oglesby 80.5
Ottawa 80.4
Marseilles 77.9
Seneca 89.2
Dimmick 85.9
Waltham 90.5
Wallace 91.6
Milton Pope 86.5
Rutland 83.6
Mendota 80.5
Lostant 86.4
Fieldcrest 84.5

Source: Illinois State Board of Education