District 90 checks progress toward accountability goals BY CHRIS LAFORTUNE STAFF WRITER District 90 continues to progress in each of the goals outlined in its student achievement accountability plan, school officials told the district's accountability team last week. The district for each of the last five years offers an annual report on the progress of its current 5-year accountability plan, established in 1999, Superintendent Tyra Manning said. The accountability team met last Wednesday to discuss the plan. Many of the goals included in the plan, such as measuring student performance on state tests or standardized tests, are ongoing, Manning said. "That's a longitudinal study that looks at the same children over time," Manning said. "That's never going to be completed." Goals already accomplished include establishing a student performance database and profile. The profile includes a student's performance on all standardized tests, Manning said, as well as local assessments. A pilot of the database program was introduced in September of 2001 and was completed for all grades by July 2002. The district also has created standards at the elementary school level for what constitutes good writing, Manning said. Students are assigned weekly writing assignments and graded on them, and that information is being collected to establish a baseline of writing skills. "We're trying to standardize what our teachers believe to be good writing," she said. "It's based on the real writing in our school district." The district began working on developing pre- and post-assessments in each subject area in 1999, and has finished assessments for each area except physical education, which it will complete this year, Manning said. Other goals have been revised over time. One initial goal called for increasing the number of correct answers by students on standardized tests, Manning said, but that goal wasn't effective because such tests give differing weigh to correct answers. Some correct answers are worth more than others. Instead, she said, the district now looks at increasing the number of students who perform well in particular areas. Other goals previously met are being addressed anew. The district's sequenced middle-school reading program developed in 1999 will be revised next school year and a new program implemented by 2005-06. Next year, Manning said, the administration will determine which goals to keep and which to drop for its next 5-year plan. Some likely will stay to maintain continuity, she said. Manning retires as superintendent at the end of this school year.