Two words: consistent gains.
That has been the story at Woodrow Wilson Primary School.
Walk down its halls and you see colorful hand-drawn pictures and classroom projects one might come to expect at a grade school.
But look in its classrooms.
Located at the core of the city at 1907 W. Forrest Hill Ave., the K-4 school is tackling what many other schools are faced with – a large number of students from low-income homes, high mobility and just trying to bridge the ever-expanding achievement gap.
Despite the odds, 84 percent of Woodrow Wilson students are meeting or exceeding math and reading standards, earning the school a spot on the state’s honor roll.
“It’s a process that has taken us a while,” Principal Angela Stockman said in between meetings and talking to a group of students in her office.
“It’s a credit to the teachers here – they are dedicated, there has been little turnover, some show up at 7 a.m. and don’t leave until night. You’ll see cars here on Saturdays.”
Stockman, in her sixth year as principal at Woodrow Wilson, points almost immediately to student assessments and the school’s Reading First program.
“We screen every kid in the first couple of weeks in reading and pinpoint actual areas of deficiency,” Stockman said. “Before, we didn’t have any of that. Before, we used (state) tests that were about a year old and didn’t provide really what we needed.”
That was more than four years ago.
This week, Woodrow Wilson was one of just 147 schools statewide recognized for showing big gains in academic performance consistently over the last three years. It also was one of 425 schools in Illinois cited as a “Spotlight School” for beating the odds – an honor it has accomplished the last five years in a row.
Kelly Stewart, a third-grade teacher at Woodrow Wilson the past decade, says teaching and classrooms are evolving.
“There’s not as much of the traditional style of teaching – lecturing in front of the class,” Stewart said, noting the look of the classroom has even changed with use of a lot of small tables and various “work stations. You have a lot more small-group instruction. We want the kids to be engaged, to talk, prove their answers.”
To earn both honors is a testament, state officials note.
“Any time you see a school make those kinds of gains, it means the entire school community is working hard,” said Mary Fergus, a spokeswoman for the Illinois State Board of Education.
Fergus noted a near 20 percentage-point gain from 2007 “that stood out. It usually requires teachers, parents, students all taking some kind of change and working toward the same goals.”
In the Tri-County Area, 38 schools received 39 honor roll awards.
At District 150, nine schools received 10 awards. Whittier Primary School in Peoria is one of nine schools statewide to have earned the Spotlight Schools award every year since the honor roll began in 2003. Washington Gifted School has received the award in excellence the last six years.
In elementary and middle schools, at least 90 percent of students must meet or exceed state standards in both reading and mathematics for at least three consecutive years to earn an award in excellence.
Dunlap District 323 saw five of its schools recognized for excellence; Morton District 709 had four schools earn the same recognition.
“This kind of achievement requires nothing less than sheer hard work and dedication on the part of administrators, teachers, parents and students,” State Superintendent Christopher Koch said in a statement regarding the state’s honor roll school awards.
Dave Haney can be reached at 686-3181 or [email protected].
Read the original article from Journal Star.
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