Signs of progress in Plainfield
T his time of year there are no shortage of gray clouds, as fall comes rolling through.
This year, of course, there are also metaphorical gray clouds. School districts everywhere, including the Plainfield School District, are addressing significant funding challenges, the H1N1 virus and the myriad of "normal" challenges that come every day with operating a large institutional system.
Thankfully, no matter how gray the sky gets, there are also always many shining examples of excellence peeking through the clouds. Among many celebrations in this young school year, one of our brightest successes has been the significant improvement of our high school academic achievement.
Though still not quite where we want them to be, our high school scores on this year's Prairie State Achievement Exam are at their highest point in recent memory.
This year, 64.4 percent of district 11th graders overall met state standards on the Prairie State Exam, which is the state's standardized test given to nearly all juniors. That's up from 51 percent last year. The state average this year on the PSAE is 53 percent meeting standards.
Likewise, Plainfield High School -- Central Campus and Plainfield North High School became the first of the district's three high schools taking the PSAE to make Adequate Yearly Progress as measured by the No Child Left Behind Act.
On another front, this year, 61 district high school graduates from last spring and current seniors have been named Advanced Placement Scholars based on their performance on AP exams given during the 2009 school year. That's up 25 percent from last year's 49 students.
And, the district's 2009 graduating class earned a 20.2 composite score on the ACT college entrance exam given last spring as part of the Prairie State Exam.
Four years ago, Central Campus graduating students earned an ACT composite score of 20.3. This year their composite dropped slightly to 20. Plainfield South graduates received a composite score of 19.2 in 2005. This year, their score rose to 20.
And Plainfield North students took the ACT for the first time in 2008, earning a composite score of 20.3. The composite score for graduating Plainfield North students this year rose to 20.7.
There is always room for improvement, yet we're very proud of our high school students' achievements.
We are equally proud of the work already done to encourage and support students to accept the challenge of a more challenging and rewarding curriculum.
Over the last four years the district has significantly improved the high school curriculum by increasing the rigor of our curriculum, improving access to more challenging courses for all students, providing more and better supports to all students.
These efforts are producing the kind of results we hoped for and expected. Yet none of it would have happened without a concerted focus and dedication to excellence by everyone involved -- our students, teachers, staff, administrators and families.
John Harper is superintendent of the Plainfield School District.
