Neuqua’s Academic Watch Status
October 30, 2009
With the standard of curriculum and the technology at Neuqua Valley’s disposal, it may be hard to believe that Neuqua has been put on academic watch. However, this academic watch is not an indication that the educational system is lacking.
If anything, Neuqua’s ACT scores have been slowly going up, with a 24.1 composite score for the 2007-2008 school year and a 24.4 for the 2008-2009 school year. What have been going down are the PSAE scores, but to really understand the information behind this, one has to look toward the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.
Under this act, “it’s not good enough for the whole school to meet standards,” said Principal Bob McBride. Within any school, there are subgroups that factor into the standards that need to be met. This includes racial subgroups as well as low-income and special education. If even one of these subgroups does not meet the standards, the school is put on academic watch. The law requires that everybody make the requirement for two years consecutively and until that happens, the school is placed on this academic watch.
“For five years in a row, we’ve had a subgroup or two subgroups not meet those standards,” said McBride. Out of the 26 high schools that report to the DuPage County Regional Office of Education, only three schools are not on watch. Naperville North, Naperville Central, and Waubonsie Valley are all in the same boat along with Neuqua.
The changes being implemented this school year, some of great controversy, were not just sporadic changes made overnight. With advisory no longer an everyday event, many teachers have been freed up to help out in academic resource rooms to help students in every subject. There is much more practicing of tests being implemented to ensure students understand testing procedures and the expectations of each respective test. The seemingly unimportant twenty minutes on Wednesday mornings give students a few more minutes of sleep and teachers a chance to touch-base with one another on the curriculums they teach. All of these changes are for the better and purely to benefit the school.
So no, Neuqua is not failing education-wise or has been red-listed because its students are not smart. There is a lot more going on than just that and rest assured, the school system is making sure Neuqua can shine to its full potential.
Hong-Ah Do, Front Page and NeuquaMedia Editor
