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SECTION 2 - PAGE 10 - PLAlNDEALER • WEDNESDAY, MARCH 28 ^ _ update on « Schools Earn top rating The McHenry East Campus Jazz Band won a first place rating at the Mundelein Jaxx Festival March 17. It was the eleventh time that this musical aggregation has captured top placement. Judges praised the band's mature sound and precision. This group will appear in April with the concert band, and again in May with the concert choir for a pops concert. Scholarships honor long time educator The McHenry Business and Professional Women have an­ nounced their 1984 scholarship program. Two scholarships in the name of Maurie Taylor, a long time educator at McHenry High School and highly regarded in the community, will be awarded in open competition between graduating seniors from McHenry School, East and West, and Johnsburg High School. Applications are available in the guidance office of each high school. An additional scholarship in memory of Maurie Taylor, and as a result of memorials given at the time of her death, will be presented to an undergraduate college student from the McHenry-Johnsburg area, majoring in the field of education. Applications for this scholarship may be obtained by contacting Kathleen Moehling, scholarship chairman, at 3804 N. Spring Grove Road, McHenpr. Deadline for the memorial scholarship is May 1. A fourth scholarship will be given to a woman over 30 years old who is returning to school to further her education. This scholarship winner is chosen by the Foundation's committee. Applications are available from Cathy O'Leary at 3705 W. Waukegan Road, McHenry. Deadline for the Foundation Scholarship is also May 1. Pictured above are members of the talented East Campus Jazz Band. In front row, from left, are Director W.N. Toalson, Jeff Gealow, Glenn Hertel, Tom Meyer, Tony Davis, Chris Momma, Anita Ballstaedt and Carmel Doherty; in back, Kelly Nejedly, Mike Milinac, Mike Stretcher, Mike LoHaaky, Steve Smith, Rich Matta, Bill Iwanski, and Greg Hajek. Not pictured are Steve Momma, Cindy True, John Armstrong and Dylan O'Leary. Recommendations for major reforms made to Illinois board of education * Recommendations that would lead to major reform in Illinois' elementary and secondary schools were presented to the State Board of Education during its regular monthly meeting March 22 at the Americana Congress Hotel in Chicago. Establishing requirements for what students should know and be able to achieve as a result of their education, the recom­ mendations were developed by the board's 85-member com­ mittee to Define State Requirements for What Students Should Know and Be Able to Do. The broadly defined requirements, which are called outcome statements, are designed to replace the curreent program-related mandates now in the statutes. "Today, for the first time in 150 years, we are taking a major step toward reforming what the state has mandated in education programs. No longer should we focus on time and titles," State Superintendent of Education Donald Gill said. "The important thing, as these outcome statements show, is to lay out what we expect students to achieve-what is the least that they should know and be able to do as a consequence of their schooling," Gill explained. The committee, which was comprised of business executives, professional educators, local school officials and parents, proposed outcome statements in the areas of Fine Arts, Language Arts, Mathematics, Physical Development and Health, Science, and Social Studies. Also, the committee proposed general outcome statements for what students should learn as a result of their schooling. The use of outcome statements with handicapped students would be governed by a child 's individualized educational plan. Dr. John Corbally, president and director of the John D. and Catherine T. Mac Arthur Foundation and former president of the University of Illinois, presented the board with the committee's report. Instead of the current man­ dated courses in the statutes, school would provide courses based upon goals and objectives that are consistent with the outcome statements. Each school district would be required to monitor and measure student achievement. The local assessment process, which must be approved by the State Board of Education, would provide school officials with a mechanism to identify which instructional programs provide students with the skills they should have as a result of their education. Schools would be required to report the progress of their students to the public and describe what alterations would be made in programs if student achievement problems oc­ curred. "The intent of these statements is not to limit what schools do, but rather to define the compelling interests of the state in the outcomes of education. The statements recommended by the committee focus on results that are unique to each of the areas of learning," according to the report. Gill convened the 85-member committee this past January and gave it the task of developing outcome statements that would represent what the State believes is minimally necessary for an educated citizenry. The board will review the proposed outcome statements and conduct hearings to seek public input on the proposals. After board approval, the board will seek legislation to repalce the current course requirements with the outcome statements. Students analysis assesses various skills . . _ ilJOllB aiJU Y'IXM) DjUJOlW iiU. Domino champs Pictured are Ringwood School's first grade domino tournament class champions. In back row, left to right, are Ryan Good, Becky D Wolfe, Amie Huemann and Jay Frost. Front row, left to right, are Shant Lambert, Wesley Copes (all-school champion) and Steve Fallon. The competition sharpened the number recognition and thinking skills of allthe first graders in the school. An analysis of 7,200 essays written by Illinois students in grades four, eight and eleven showed that 73 percent of the eleventh grade students met the criteria of developed writing skills. In fourth grade, 33 percent of the students had developed writing skills and 60 percent of the eighth grade students met the same criteria in the State Allot seven master teachers to county The Governor's Master Teacher program allotted seven master teachers to McHenry County. Forty-three teachers applied through the Regional Office of Education. The governor gave the program to the state superintendent and he assigned it to the 57 regional superintendents. O.C. "Dixie" O'Hara, regional superintendent for McHenry County, chose the following selection committee which is a combination of administrators, board member, students, businessmen and teachers: Greg Bradshaw, James Carrow, Carol McGuine, Robert Doran, John Junkroski, Clarence Sisson. Chuck Hartlieb, William Dodds. William LeFew, A1 Kramka, Robert Botts, Carla Davidson, Kenneth Lund, Kenneth Kingston, John Moline, and Mary Katzler. From the field of 43 ap­ plications, all outstanding teachers, the committee selected the following: Margaret Bach, Dean Street School, Woodstock; George Bailey, West Elementary School, Crystal Lake; Douglas Blundy, Crystal Lake Central High School; Catherine Green, Crystal Lake Central High School; Mary Ellen Karp, Landmark School, McHenry; Leonard Scheel, Crystal Lake South High School and Louise Verene, Hilltop School, McHenry. The purpose of the program is to recognize and reward out­ standing teachers and provide them with released time to assist other teachers. Each of the seven master teachers from McHenry County will receive a stipend of $1,000 and three days of released time. During their released time, they may act as resources to other teachers through direct consultations, visit other classrooms or host teachers in their classrooms to demonstrate exemplary teaching practices, and conduct local and regional workshops and inservice training sessions. The committee felt that McHenry County is very for­ tunate to have so many qualified and outstanding teachers. Board of Education's second annual report on student achievement in Illinois. The first achievement report described 1982 assessment data. The second annual report indicated "while a greater percentage of high school students are able to meet ob­ jectives of developed writing, only about one in five meet criteria of a well-developed paper." According to the board's staff, the results of the achievement report show that the writing skills of students are not as disappointing as some critics claim. However, the writing skills are not as developed as they should be either, staff said during the board's regular monthly meeting in Springfield. The entire achievement report focuses on basic and advanced skills in reading, grammar, mathematics and science. Analyzed in the report are data from the Illinois Inventory of Educational Progress (HEP), High School and Beyond Test (HSB), Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT), and the American College Test (ACT). The data gathered from the 1983 HEP on writing skills will serve as a benchmark for future writing assessments of students. This is tlle hrM yev ̂ iaoanl' help teachers to teach students 3rd Anniversary Spring Sale FACTORY TO YOV4l)%'SO% SAVINGS A v a i l a b l e direct to the public, new outdoor or mdoor 'ijrniture with all-weather cushions. Includes chairs 42", 48" and 55" Werzalit tabletops, loveseats. single and double gliders, service carts, coffee tables, lamps, umbrellas and for the ultimate in comfort and pleasure try our chaise lounge. Furniture available in white or vanilla; also cushions in ten colors to choose from. Many lovely pieces and styles. "BEST ON THE MARKET" Manufacturers of PVC furniture for indoor/outdoor lawn, patio and deck. Big Savings--Visit our factory showroom. OH.BERTS. II (312)428-0707 -- L ook for our sign on route 72 Hours: Tues.-Fri. 9-7:00 Sat. Sun 10-5:00 Closed Mondays N--«Wr6fwp assessed student writing skills. Using a six-point scale, essays were evaluated by 60 language arts teachers as minimal, developing, developed and well- developed. Students were asked to write a pursuasive essay in 25 minutes on whether or not they agree or disagree with the following statement: "If we could unplug all the TV sets in America, our children would grow up to be healthier, better education, and more independent human beings.*' The essays revealed that 20 percent of the eleventh grade students met the criteria of demonstrating well-developed writing skills. "Eighth and eleventh grade students who reportedly wat­ ched television less than one hour per day performed better than students who reportedly watched television more frequently," the report ex­ plained. Also, when fourth and eighth grade results in writing are used as a base, eleventh grade students did not perform as well as expected on any of the four writing scales, the report added. The HEP survey data in­ dicated that students who write more scored consistently higher at all grade levels. "^As a result "of producing an approach to assess student writing skills, the board has developed a process that will writing skills and diagnose their strengths and weaknesses. In grammar, Illinois students performed as well as their peers nationally on multiple choice tests, according to HSB and the ACT. "While Illinois eighth and eleventh grade students demonstrated recognition of simple grammar skills in multiple choice questions, they did not do as well on HEP items using more complex sentences. Further, even students who could recognize the correct responses to items using complex sentences showed less skill when actually composing an essay," the report said. However, students showed improvement from 1981-1983. Illinois juniors in 1983 per­ formed "significantly" better than juniors in 1981 on multiple choice items of grammar and usage in complex sentences. According to the HEP, students showed a significant increase in student performance from 1982-1983 in the ability to read and comprehend lenghty reading passages. There were no changes in the ACT and SAT results during the same time period. In mathematics, student achievement has improved most years since the HEP was first conducted in 1976. $ i t" OPENING SATURDAY MARCH 31! MAMA 2 BE MATERNITY SHOP jl *LAY-AWAYS *GIFT CERTIFICATES* i 'QUALITY CLOTHING PRICED RIGHT! • * ' ' . OPEN 7 DAYS CRYSTAL POINT MALL Rt. 14 CRYSTAL LAKE 815-455-0782 *