Will County Gazette

The Joliet Township School District Board of Education received an update on the successes and programs of educational services as well as student performance and growth.

During the meeting, streamed on YouTube,  Dianne McDonald, the district’s assistant superintendent for Educational Services, presented details on the performance of students in standardized and local testing and outlined how the students grow during their educational journey. She also spotlighted Gateway to Graduation 1.0

“This is out of the school day support for our students to help them get back on track for graduation,” McDonald said during the presentation.

McDonald provided an update on SAT scores for seniors in both math and ELA and noted that the average scores for racial and gender subgroups ab both West and Central high schools fell below state levels and the test’s own goal. She told the board that students in the Class of 2023 still have trouble with algebra in the wake of COVID-19 remote learning, which impacted their skills.

“To give context to our current seniors, they were part of that freshman class that got let down in March of 2020,” McDonald said. “Their sophomore year, they were fully remote. Their junior year was a return last year. We recognize the learning environment was disrupted last year.”

McDonald also noted that there are two benchmark scores, the SAT benchmark of 480 and the state benchmark of 540, noting that the state established its own benchmark. In ELA a few groups were able to meet the SAT benchmark, but none achieved the state mark. During the presentation, McDonald outlined the Apex program, which includes a remote course.

“They work with a teacher online to get credit for that course,” she said during the presentation. “We initially targeted senior students, most of the areas that they needed support in were math, English, and then they needed electives to catch up to for graduation.”

With first-semester data in hand, McDonald noted that some freshmen, sophomores and juniors have inquired about the program as a way to get back on track.

“But we target students that have not failed, like they've only failed one class,’ she told the board. “They have good attendance and they're able to work remotely by themselves because it is outside of the school day.”

McDonald also noted that the district has two math aids to assist students, including a course that is two hours long instead of the traditional one hour and includes learning labs. A total of 951 students have enrolled in the extended math class.

Students who did opt for the double block math course posted sources that were a grade level higher than the level they stated at. There also are similar options for English, which have offered similar results, though the improvement is not as rapid as the math results.