State: Plano Middle School 'underperforming'

Plano Middle School has been designated “Underperforming” by the Illinois State Board of Education, according to the school’s yearly report card.

An “Underperforming” school is defined by the state as “A school in which one or more student groups is performing at or below the level of ‘all students’ group in the lowest performing 5 percent of schools.”

A school’s tier ranking is determined in part by an evidence-based funding model approved by the General Assembly and signed into law in August of 2017.

The new method of funding Illinois schools is intended to make the process more fair, by measuring each district in more than 30 categories, and placing each district in a tier to determine its amount of funding over the basic state minimum allocation. Tier 1 and Tier 2 schools receive 99 percent of additional allocated funds. Plano School District 88 is currently listed as a Tier 1 district.

According to the report card issued by the state for PSD 88, the district’s adequacy target, or the cost of educating the district’s students, is $31,650,740. The district is currently at 53 percent of its target, or just below $17 million.

In response to Plano Middle School’s designation, PSD 88 Director of Assessment and English Language Learning Abby Alvarez said that the district is using the new ISBE designations “as yet another measure to focus our efforts in Plano.”

“As four of our schools did receive commendable designations, we are building upon that momentum to ensure we can accurately predict future measures from ISBE,” Alvarez said.

As the accountability system is new, as of this school year, Alvarez said that it would be an ongoing effort in Plano. The designation may also result in additional funds for PMS, but Alvarez said that “specific plans are still being determined” at the district level.

“Obviously, there is a sense of dissatisfaction due to the negative connotation that a rating of ‘underperforming’ may indicate. However, we need to view this as a baseline, as ISBE has just created this new measuring system and incorporates scores from PARCC, which will no longer be our accountability assessment,” she said.

When asked about the number of student subgroups ranked underperforming, Alvarez said that the relatively low total student population at PMS creates cross-over within subgroups. At the time of the designation, PMS had 341 students enrolled.

“It is possible for one student’s scores to be represented throughout each of the subgroups,” she pointed out. “Obviously, our concern is to address the needs of all of our students and ensure they are prepared for success at the high school level. That being said, we feel as though the improvements that we have made and will continue to make, specifically address the unique needs of students within all of these subgroups.”

Alvarez detailed several structural changes planned in the 2017-18 school year that were incorporated this year, including improvements in the EL program, doubling the number of bilingual instructors and support personnel, and addressing skill deficits in small groups with instructional support.

“This, again, ensures that we are meeting the needs of our Hispanic and EL population by providing explicit instruction that addresses specific skill deficits across all academic settings,” Alvarez said.

Plano, to align itself with ISBE, also measures student growth and achievement with the MAP assessment, which showed the highest growth rate in the district in the 2017-18 school year.

“However difficult it is to hit ISBE’s moving targets, we will continue to make improvements to ensure the needs of our students are met,” Alvarez said. “Parents and stakeholders should understand that these designations and the formula that has been designed to create these designations are very new, so they should be viewed as a baseline.”

Alvarez also stressed the importance and impact of parent involvement across all grade levels.

“Understand that this designation does not provide the full picture of the great work of our students and teachers,” she said. “We would like to ensure that parents and students understand that their success is not measured by a score on a test. Our goal will continue to be growing students as critical thinkers and problem solvers who care deeply for one another and will contribute in a positive manner to our community.”