Data comparing failure rates in District 218 for second semesters the past four years reveal an encouraging trend. This year, failures fell to their lowest level since the district began tracking.
Administrators have identified some possible reasons. The trend, with an exception or two in individual years at individual schools, spans across Eisenhower, Richards, and Shepard high schools.
Dating back to 2010, the average number of failed classes in all of District 218 for second semester looks like this: 1,117, 814, 896, and 760. Even the one year where the number rose slightly stands significantly lower than 2010.
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“It’s encouraging to see that the number of failures has generally decreased over the past three years,” said Dr. Kathy Gavin, the director of data, assessment, and evaluation.
So, what’s behind the fall in failures? Quite possibly, a change to a more centrally-aligned system of testing and course objectives.
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“This could be attributed to common unit and semester assessments tightly aligned to course objectives and instructional strategies,” she wrote in her report to the Board of Education.
Over the last several years, District 218 has developed common unit assessments: Teams of teachers developed exams for use by all instructors of English I, U.S. History, etc.
What difference does it make to employ the same assessments and tests? Plenty.
First, because all instructors who teach a specific course must use the same assessment or test, they know what material must be covered.
Every teacher for a specific course covers the same content, tests that content in the same way, and then analyzes results.
“The best classroom assessments serve as meaningful sources of information for teachers, helping them identify what they taught well and what they need to work on,” according to the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
In other words, common assessments help identify areas where students show strength and where they need help. Ultimately, that means they improve mastery of concepts and skills.
And ‘unit’ assessments – those that test students at regular intervals – provide immediate feedback. That’s extremely useful for teachers. They know right away where students need some help.
