MIDWEST CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL.

M.C.H.S. SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT PLAN FOR 2005-06

The Mission Statement of Midwest Central High School is “A successful graduate from Midwest Central High School has the knowledge and skills to be a positive, contributing member of society.  Each graduate is able to read, write, compute and communicate effectively; solve problems in a variety of settings; demonstrate respect, motivation and self-discipline; and is mentally and socially prepared to be self-sufficient for the future.”

IMPORTANT POINTS ABOUT MCHS STUDENTS (DEMOGRAPHICS):

1.        Enrollment has declined, but larger incoming classes should reverse the trend starting this year;

2.        Graduation rate and average daily attendance appear to follow the trend of being above the state average;

3.        Mobility rate has declined, but so has the number of students in specialty programs;

4.        Student disciplinary statistics became slightly more problematic in 2004-05.

 

IMPORTANT POINTS ABOUT STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT:

1.         For the fifth year in a row, MCHS juniors achieved Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) in both of the required categories (Reading and Mathematics) as defined by federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation.  But for the first time, MCHS juniors were slightly out-performed by the “average” junior in the state of Illinois.  In addition, there appears to a local trend of MCHS females out-performing their MCHS male counterparts on the Prairie State Achievement Exam.  Several of our local goals this year look to close these gaps.

2.        MCHS low income juniors out-performed their counterparts throughout the state on all three of the PSAE categories (Reading, Mathematics and Science).  This reversed a one-year dip in scores from the previous year.

3.        The PLAN test, a pre-test for the ACT, is taken by all MCHS sophomores.  As compared to their national counterparts, 71% of MCHS sophomores performed at or above the 50th percentile, with their highest scores in Science and Reading.   The EXPLORE test, also a pre-test for the ACT, is taken by all MCHS freshmen.  Compared to 8th and 9th graders nationwide, 81% of MCHS freshmen scored at or above the 50th percentile.  Their highest scores were in Math and Science.  This follows the same trend from last year. 

4.        MCHS graduating seniors, the Class of 2005, averaged a composite score of 20.6 on the ACT, down just slightly from the previous year’s 20.8 composite.  The composite is again above the state average of 20.3 but a little below the national average of 20.9.  This is significant since, in Illinois, all students are required to take the ACT, while nationwide, students may choose to take the ACT.  MCHS seniors who took a four-year HS “core” curriculum defined as “college bound” by the ACT averaged a composite score of 24.4, greatly exceeding the state average “core” composite of 22.5 and the nationwide average “core” composite of 21.9 on the ACT.  This leads to our school-wide goal of improving “core” curricular pathways for all students at MCHS.

 

SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT PLAN GOALS FOR 2005-06:

·          OVERALL MCHS goals: Continue to provide freshmen, sophomores and juniors with regular classroom-related preparation for the ACT, PSAE, Work Keys, EXPLORE and PLAN.  Update all course sequences to meet new state requirements.  Design activities and program to help boys be more engaged in learning.  For 2005-06 these include: the new grant-funded CARY (Careers for America’s Rural Youth) program; the new Careers Club and Glucose (Science) Club; Co-Op worksite opportunities for students with IEPs; CTE presentations to highlight off-campus career-based classes for juniors and seniors; improved “core” curricular pathways/options for all students; plus expanded counseling and tutoring opportunities as provided with grant monies.

·          Language Arts: Incorporate literature that has a higher male interest level.  Continue to improve critical thinking skills by interpreting and analyzing information.  Continue to improve writing skills by emphasizing the formation of a strong thesis with a unified focus in all essays.  Have students elaborate upon the main idea with effective support and edit work for proper grammatical structure in all of their writings.

·          Mathematics: Work on re-aligning curriculum to meet new state requirements in algebra and geometry.  With Mr. Brown’s upcoming retirement, prepare to help the new teacher transition successfully into MCHS.

·          Science: Improve students’ reading comprehension and writing skills through the incorporation of science literature in the curriculum.  Increase the amount and quality of scientific inquiry (i.e. scientific reasoning, scientific method, problem solving and graphical analysis) activities included in the science curriculum.

·          Social Science: Incorporate genocide studies into American History III classes, as part of new state requirements.  This includes raising the students’ awareness of the recent struggles of genocide in the Sudan, Rwanda, Cambodia, Bosnia and Armenia.

·          Health/PE: Continue to implement physical fitness and cardiovascular activities into all PE classes and try to introduce more non-traditional games and activities.  Continue to adapt games and activities as to class size and supervision.

·          Fine Arts:  Visual art – Make art classes FUN for the students and stress creativity in using the various media available.    Music – Demonstrate a high degree of patience, encouragement and understanding in how the students develop as an excellent acting/sounding group through practice at home and school.

·          Special Education: Begin to provide students with upper level math concepts such as geometry to enhance higher level thinking.  Explore a variety of scientific areas such as earth and space science in the instructional setting to expand students’ knowledge base.  Incorporate more grammar and writing practice into all classes.

·          Career/Technical Education: Continue to improve students’ reading and math comprehension skills by emphasizing ACT Work Keys practice sets in all vocational (CTE) classes.  Focus on establishing geometry and advanced mathematics in problem-solving applications in agriculturally and vocationally based fields.

·          Foreign Language: Continue to modify curriculum goals to match all foreign language state standards.  Help give all students some real life experiences with speaking Spanish.

·          Guidance: Continue to expand the guidance department web page to function as an effective information tool for students and parents.