Chicago schools among best--and the worst

All seven elementary schools in Community Consolidated District 181, headquartered in Hinsdale, ranked in the top 100; both the district’s middle schools posted in the top 25, and the high school they feed into, Hinsdale Central, hit No. 5 statewide.

Among neighborhood schools that draw only from their attendance areas, Evanston’s Willard School produced the top elementary spot, Lincolnshire’s Daniel Wright Jr. High won the top middle school slot and Hinsdale Central claimed top high school honors.

Those are some of the results of a Chicago Sun-Times analysis of reading and math scores from state achievement tests taken last March and April by Illinois public school students in grades 3 through 8 and 11.

For the last decade, the Sun-Times’ annual rankings have been based on average scores racked up by schools, not on the percent hitting or exceeding the state bar for passing — a threshold that critics increasingly are labeling as too low.

Schools that use tests to pick their kids dominated the top-10 rankings, and that includes Chicago’s Northside College Prep, the state’s highest-scoring high school.

Like many elite Chicago public high schools, Northside has become increasingly selective. This fall, the average freshmen scored 985 out of a possible 1,000 on the city college prep entrance exam — up from 968 only two years ago.

“We’re kind of attractive to that top group of students, no doubt about it,” said Northside Principal Barry Rodgers. “But I’m happy to say we’re improving as well. Our ACT [college admission test score] is up to 28.6 — an all time high.”

Not surprisingly, schools with more than 90 percent poverty rates dominated the bottom of the pack. Meanwhile, neighborhood schools in the top 10 had single-digit poverty rates.

At the state’s best-scoring neighborhood middle school — No. 9 Daniel Wright Junior High in pricey Lincolnshire — not one low-income student was enrolled last school year. Principal Howard Holbrook cited active and often well-educated parents as one key to Wright’s success.

“If anyone asked me, how does Lincolnshire and Daniel Wright do so well, a very good chunk of it is the parents,” Holbrook said. “These kids are not just learning at school; they are learning at home.”

Wright parents, many with advanced degrees, pitch right in. Some help train kids for the Science Olympiad. Others — including an astronomer, a geologist and a criminologist — have addressed classes of kids about their specialities. Parents even volunteer to hand out school lunches, helping the school forgo kitchen staff.

And, residents in Wright’s district — Lincolnshire-Prairieview 103 — are willing to pay extra for their schools. A 2006 tax referendum allowed Wright to keep class sizes in the low 20s.

But Wright also works hard at challenging kids. Two extra teachers enter math and reading classrooms to stretch all kids, but especially more advanced ones, while three full-time teachers help struggling students.

Here, every eighth grader is taking some form of algebra or beyond, and teachers regularly visit Lincolnshire’s Stevenson High School — No. 6 statewide — to make sure they know what’s ahead for their students.

That way, Holbrook said, “They [Stevenson staff] know where we’re coming from and we know what we’re going to.”

Parents also pitch in at Hinsdale’s Madison Elementary, No. 11 statewide and the highest-scoring elementary school in powerhouse District 181. During Madison’s eight-week “enrichment season,” said Principal Mindy McMahon, parents have led classes on everything from Junior Great Books and stock market investing to yoga and knitting.

Madison uses at least four diagnostic or standardized tests a year to detect student strengths and weaknesses so it can address them in “differentiated instruction.” A reading specialist works with small groups of struggling kids, and a gifted specialist joins classroom teachers in third, fourth and fifth grades to provide advanced math instruction to higher-scoring kids.

Differentiated instruction has become popular statewide in recent years, but at Madison, it’s been a long-time practice -- and one started by teachers, McMahon said.

“When teachers bring forth an initiative they tend to be quite successful at it because they tend to be passionate about it,” McMahon said.

Although Chicago’s top postings were dominated by schools that pick kids based on tests or lotteries, some neighborhood schools also shined. Oriole Park School claimed the top spot among city neighborhood middle schools, at No. 14 statewide, despite class sizes that are bulging this year at 38.

The Chicago public school doesn’t waste a minute, giving kids — even kindergarteners — learning packets during summer and spring breaks and making independent reading part of student grades. The school uses a stable of reliable substitute teachers and college education majors for pull-out tutoring help.

“People keep looking for some magic curriculum,” said Oriole Park Principal Elias Estrada. “There’s no miracle dust here. It’s just a lot of damn hard work.”