By Bill Dwyer

River Forest School District 90 will be sending results of the 2005 Illinois State Achievement Test to students’ parents today. The new scores reflect the district’s continued academic excellence, though the scores were slightly lower than last year. Superintendent Marlene Kamm noted that the 2005 ISAT results were "within a percentage point" of the 2004 scores.

The ISAT results will be discussed in detail at the regularly scheduled District 90 Educational Committee meeting the first week in November.

One of the weakest performances was in 7th-grade science. While 91.4 percent of all students taking the test scored at or above state standards, 4 percent were below standards, and 4.6 percent were on academic warning. Another problem area was 8th grade math, in which 10.2 percent tested below the state standard, and 1.9 percent were on academic warning.

Eighth-graders did well on the reading test, with 93.6 percent scoring at or above state standards, with no student on academic warning.

Kamm said that school staff looks at each child who might be struggling and addresses their issues individually.

"We’ll build a program and meet the needs of that child," she said.

Kamm also pointed out that the ISATs are not the only indicator the district relies on when assessing student progress.

"We take the results seriously, but we also look at them in combination with standardized achievement results, as well as the monthly assessments," she said.

ISAT results

Percent of Students in 2005 ISAT Performance Levels

Grade 3

Reading

87.1 Meet and/or Exceed State Standards

12.1 Below State Standards

.8 Academic Warning

Math

94.7 Meet and/or Exceed State Standards

5.3 Below State Standards

0 Academic Warning

Grade 4

Science

97.4 Meet and/or Exceed State Standards

2.6 Below State Standards

0 Academic Warning

Grade 5

Reading

85.7 Meet and/or Exceed State Standards

14.3 Below State Standards

0 Academic Warning

Math

90.5 Meet and/or Exceed State Standards

7.5 Below State Standards

2.0 Academic Warning

Grade 7

Science

91.4 Meet and/or Exceed State Standards

4.0 Below State Standards

4.6 Academic Warning

Grade 8

Reading

93.6 Meet and/or Exceed State Standards

6.4 Below State Standards

0 Academic Warning

Math

87.9 Meet and/or Exceed State Standards

10.2 Below State Standards

1.9 Academic Warning