BLOOMINGTON -- There's good news and bad news for Bloomington-Normal area public high schools in this year's annual Illinois State Report Cards.

The good news is all five schools performed better than the state's composite score of reading math and science on the Prairie State Achievement Examination (PSAE) that all juniors are required to complete.

The bad news is three of five had lower composite scores than last year: Normal Community, Normal West and Olympia.

Bloomington High School stayed virtually the same with a .3 percent increase in students that met or exceeded the standard which is the level of achievement a student must reach to be proficient in that subject. Only Downs-based Tri-Valley High School saw its composite score increase by more than 2 percent.

The State Report Cards, a requirement of the federal No Child Left Behind Act, measure success of high school students who take standardized tests in the core subjects of math, reading and science. The PSAE includes the ACT, the college entrance exam.

The State Report Cards also contain many other categories of information about a school district, such as graduation and dropout rates, demographics and per-student costs.

Dianne Stempinksi, professional development director of the Regional Office of Education for DeWitt, Livingston and McLean counties, cautions not to put too much stock in the test that is taken over two days.

"People need to realize it's all based on one test. There's nothing else that goes into it," she said.

"You'd never go to a doctor and just step on the scale, and make all your health decisions based on that one factor. We don't do this with anything else," she said of using only one measurement to diagnose the academic health of a school.

Incentives

That said, Tri-Valley has the highest composite score (math, science, reading) of the five high schools with 75.9 percent of students meeting or exceeding the state standard, surpassing the threshold of 70 percent set this year. Normal Community was second among Twin City area high schools at 67 percent. Outside of Bloomington-Normal, two other high schools, Tremont and Lexington also exceeded the 70 percent mark.

Each year, the standard rises. Next year, 77.5 percent of students must meet or exceed as required by No Child Left Behind. By 2013-14, all students must meet or exceed the standard.

Other high schools in the area have been looking at Tri-Valley's secret to success.

"We found a way to motivate every kid, not just the college-bound kids," said Jon Nelson, an English teacher, coach and member of the school improvement team.

If, as juniors, students meet or exceed the standard in math, science or reading they are allowed to opt out of final exams in those subjects as seniors. Senior classes also can earn a shorter school day, by 20 minutes.

The 20 minutes are in the ninth hour where freshmen participate in a mentoring program called Shift; juniors practice for PSAE and ACT tests; and sophomores have time to read and do homework.

Principal David Mouser said the ninth period has been a benefit for students, so the rest of the academic day can be devoted to curriculum items.

Looking to improve

One school considering similar incentives is Ridgeview High School in Colfax.

Of the 20 public high schools in The Pantagraph area, it had the lowest PSAE composite score.

Only 49 percent of its students met or exceeded this year's standard. Two other area high schools, Fieldcrest and Clinton, also scored below the state composite score of 53 percent.

Ridgeview High School Principal Jim Campbell said in his small school, with only 38 students taking the test, scores are strongly affected by a few students. If just three students had done better, the school would have made its "adequate yearly progress."

Ridgeview students did well in their regular courses and on their ACT scores. It was on the second day of the PSAE that their scores were lower, especially in math.

"Some don't take it seriously," said Campbell, adding the school offers math tutoring and other programs to help students improve their test-taking skills.

Jim Braksick, assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction for Normal-based Unit 5, said it could be a problem with the test as an assessment tool and its alignment to what students learn. He also agreed that student motivation is part of it.

It's hard to keep kids interested over a two-day period. "We've tried a variety of incentives and continue to look for something that will click," Braksick said.

Ridgeview also is spearheading a February meeting of math teachers for the 13 schools in the Heart of Illinois Conference to exchange ideas at the regional office of education in Normal.

"All of us sharing" will make a difference, Campbell said.

Ridgeview is one of eight schools that Stempinski offers assistance to because they have not meet adequate yearly progress for two years in a row. The others are: BHS, Clinton, Normal West, Olympia, Pontiac, Prairie Central and Tri-Point.

"I do not have a high school principal not working as hard as he can on this, or teachers throwing up their hands (to give up)," she said. "They are responding."

PSAE results

Chart shows the percentage of high school juniors who met or exceeded the state standard on the Prairie State Achievement Examination. Results are contained in the recently released 2009 State Report Cards.

School...Reading 2008...2009......Math 2008...2009......Science 2008...2009...Composite 2008...2009

Bloomington...58.2...62.6...58.6...57.5...58.2...55.7...58.5...58.6

NCHS...68.1...68.0...70.5...67.7...68.6...65.5...69.1...67.0

Normal West...62.4...67.8...62.6...58.1...62...58...62.4...61.6

Olympia...63.2...59.2...64.4...56.5...60.0...49.7...62.5...55.1...

Tri-Valley...77.2...76.3...72.2...76.3...72.2...75...73.8...75.9

To see report cards for every public school, visit your school's Web site or http://webprod.isbe.net/ereportcard/publicsite/getSearchCriteria.aspx.

Looking for answers

Area high schools are trying various methods to try to get student test scores up.

-- Olympia, Normal West and Pontiac Township high schools are creating "learning communities" where professionals from the three schools meet to see what students know, what they need to know, and what changes teachers can make.

-- Normal West has visited the successful Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire to apply some of their best ideas.

-- Clinton and Pontiac are working on curriculum-building teams to align school teaching with state standards.

-- Schools are using student data to help design individual plans for achievement.

-- A regional meeting is set for February for math teachers in 13 schools in the Heart of Illinois Conference to exchange ideas. Eventually, English and science teachers will meet, too.

-- Tri-Valley in Downs uses incentives for seniors who, as juniors, meet or exceed standards on the Prairie State Achievement Examination, including the right to opt out of finals, and a shorter school day.

Sources: Dewitt-Livingston-McLean Counties Regional Office of Education and interviews of area school administrators.