As is the case in most school districts, school improvement is a year-round process that does not begin with a discussion of School Report Cards in October.  For the Litchfield School District, the school and district report cards are simply the official state form that must be approved annually by our Board of Education for distribution to our parents and community.  The discussions of the data, which includes test scores in these reports, must occur throughout the year if we are going to truly impact student achievement. 

     On an annual basis, the principal and staff at each building use both standardized test scores such as the Illinois Standards Achievement Test (ISAT) for elementary and middle school students, Prairie State Achievement Exam (PSAE) for high school students, local assessments administered to all districts students, and even student and parent surveys to revise a School Improvement Plan that addresses the areas of concern for each school.  Additionally, in March 2011, over 80 members of the Litchfield Community came together to revise the district’s Strategic Plan which further identified areas of concern and a plan for addressing these issues.  Discussions regarding student achievement and school improvement in the Litchfield School District do not begin with the approval of the school and district report cards in October.

     In regards to questions raised specifically about Litchfield High School, a School Improvement Committee consisting of teachers, administrators, parents, and community members spent numerous hours last fall analyzing student data to create a 53-page School Improvement Plan.  This comprehensive plan addresses concerns and identified specific action plans which will be completed to address weaknesses with the high school program.  This plan was presented, discussed and formally approved by the Board of Education during the December 14, 2010 meeting. 

     This plan recommended serious changes for the high school.  Two major changes include: revising the daily schedule to create an enrichment period each day where students who are struggling in each of the academic areas can meet with teachers to receive the additional help they may need; we have also adopted an entirely new math curriculum at the middle school and high school which is scientifically based to better meet the needs of our struggling students.  These are just two of the changes outlined in the High School School Improvement Plan which is available on our district website using the Plans link to the left.

     Revisions are being finalized to the School Improvement Plans of all schools in the district with the elementary plans presented annually at the November Board meeting and the Middle School and High School plans addressed at the December Board meeting.  These meetings are always open to the public and we welcome questions or input from the community.  As has been past practice, the Board of Education will continue to ask tough questions and challenge all district personnel to do what is best for our students.

     As a district, we are certainly proud of our successes, but know we must work hard every day to achieve our mission.  J.D. Colt continues to make AYP in both math and reading while Russell Elementary School made AYP in math and was very close to achieving the 85% target in reading.  The middle school made AYP in reading and was very close in math.  This is the first year these buildings did not make AYP in both areas.  The bar has been raised and we are working hard with everyone in our district to continue to improve.  Additionally, the Litchfield School District has received SchoolSearch Bright Star Awards in both 2009 and 2010.  In 2010, the district was one of 81 districts in Illinois where students’ academic performance ranked in the upper one-third of Illinois school districts, but whose expenditures per pupil ranked in the lower one-fourth. 

     As is the case in most school districts, school improvement is a year-round process that does not begin with a discussion of School Report Cards in October.  For the Litchfield School District, the school and district report cards are simply the official state form that must be approved annually by our Board of Education for distribution to our parents and community.  The discussions of the data, which includes test scores in these reports, must have already occurred if we are going to truly impact student achievement. 

     On an annual basis, the Principal and staff at each building use both standardized test scores such as the Illinois Standards Achievement Test (ISAT) for elementary and middle school students, Prairie State Achievement Exam (PSAE) for high school students, local assessments administered to all districts students, and even student and parent surveys to revise a School Improvement Plan that addresses the areas of concern for each school.  Additionally, in March 2011, over 80 members of the Litchfield Community came together to revise the district’s Strategic Plan which further identified areas of concern and a plan for addressing these issues.  Discussions regarding student achievement and school improvement in the Litchfield School District do not begin with the approval of the school and district report cards in October.

     As a district, we continue to work hard to address deficiencies that exist at Litchfield High School.  To address these concerns, a School Improvement Committee consisting of teachers, administrators, parents, and community members spent numerous hours last fall analyzing student data to create a 53-page School Improvement Plan.  This comprehensive plan addresses concerns and identified specific action plans which will be completed to address weaknesses with the high school program.  This plan was presented, discussed and formally approved by the Board of Education during the December 14, 2010 meeting. 

     This plan recommended serious changes for the high school.  Two major changes include: revising the daily schedule to create an enrichment period each day where students who are struggling in each of the academic areas can meet with teachers to receive the additional help they may need; we have also adopted an entirely new math curriculum at the middle school and high school which is scientifically based to better meet the needs of our struggling students.  These are just two of the changes outlined in the High School School Improvement Plan which is available along with all school improvement plans from the Plans link to the left.

     Revisions are being finalized to the School Improvement Plans of all schools in the district with the elementary plans to be presented at the November Board meeting and the Middle School and High School plans to be addressed at the December Board meeting.  These meetings are always open to the public and we welcome questions or input from the community.  As has been past practice, I am sure the Board of Education will continue to ask tough questions and challenge all district personnel to do what is best for our students.

     Unfortunately, Litchfield High School did not make AYP in either math or reading.  No one in the district is happy with that fact, or satisfied with our scores.  We continue to work with our teachers, administrators, Board of Education, and community to improve in all of these areas.  The author of the editorial was correct.  We did not spend much time on the School Report Cards during the October Board meeting.  The fact of the matter is that these scores were old news to everyone at the meeting.  Please join us on the second Tuesday of each month as we continue our work as a district to improve in these areas, as well as all areas of student achievement.

     As a district, we are certainly proud of our successes, but know we must work hard every day to achieve our mission.  J.D. Colt continues to make AYP in both math and reading while Russell Elementary School made AYP in math and was very close to achieving the 85% target in reading.  The middle school made AYP in reading and was very close in math.  This is the first year these buildings did not make AYP in both areas.  The bar has been raised and we are working hard with everyone school in our district to continue to improve.  Additionally, the Litchfield School District has received SchoolSearch Bright Star Awards in both 2009 and 2010.  In 2010, the district was one of 81 districts in Illinois where students’ academic performance ranked in the upper one-third of Illinois school districts, but whose expenditures per pupil ranked in the lower one-fourth. 

     Like most school districts in Illinois, we have some challenges with our students meeting the high standards established through the original No Child Left Behind legislation.  We work year-round to address these concerns.  As a district, we recognize these concerns, revise our plans to attack them on an annual basis, and work hard every day to do what is best for our students.  While the school and district report cards are concise, easy to follow documents, they are not the starting point for our district to discuss student improvement, but rather a reminder of the hard work we have in front of us.