Pictured, from left, are Gemma Cox, Dominick Tran, Tenley Silveus, Grant Hendrikse, Kaiden Bradford and Dr. Dani Barkey. Photo provided by Warsaw Community Schools.

By Liz Shepherd
InkFreeNews

WARSAW — Achievements on the recent ILEARN state assessments, administered to students in grades 3-8, were recognized during a Warsaw Community Schools’ Board of Trustees meeting on Aug. 14.

Special recognition was given to Grant Hendrikse’s fifth-grade class at Madison Elementary School. The class achieved a 100% passing rate on the ILEARN state assessments in math as well as an 88% pass rate in ELA.

Now sixth-graders, Kaiden Bradford, Tenley Silveus, Dominick Tran, and Gemma Cox were acknowledged for their progress on the assessment. Each of the students showed high growth and scored a 4, the highest level, on either their ELA or math assessments, or both.

“We are incredibly proud of Kaiden, Tenley, Dominick, Gemma, and the entire fifth-grade class,” said WCS Superintendent Dr. David Hoffert. “Their relentless hard work, determination, and genuine enthusiasm for learning have resulted in this outstanding achievement. All of our schools consistently prioritize academic excellence and employ innovative teaching approaches to empower our students for success. We commend the collaborative efforts of teachers, parents, and students, which have significantly contributed to this impressive milestone on the ILEARN assessment.”

“Mr. Henrikse’s data-driven approach helps ensure each student reaches his or her goals,” said Deputy Superintendent Dr. Dani Barkey. “21 out of 23 students scored a 4 on their math assessment this year in the class, which is an impressive feat.”

Barkey and Chief Technology and Data Analytics Officer Kyle Carter provided the board with further information on ILEARN and the district’s overall performance on the state-mandated assessment.

Carter described ILEARN as a summative assessment used to measure where students are academically at the end of the school year.

“We don’t get the results until well after the school year is over,” said Carter. “What (ILEARN) is good for is making comparisons to neighboring school districts, even between grade levels and buildings.”

Barkey said the district will continue to focus on data-driven instruction while also honing in on literacy for the K-2 grade levels. She also noted there’s current discussions about the potential for NWEA, another assessment utilized in WCS and around the world, to become a state-mandated assessment as well.

“(With NWEA), as soon as the kids hit submit, they get their written score, they know exactly how much they grew,” said Barkey. “I’ve gone into classes where kids are taking the assessment and they fist bump each other when they grow in points. With the ILEARN assessment, it’s very anti-climactic because we don’t see it until the end of the school year.”

“In a growth-based assessment, everyone’s pushed and everyone’s challenged,” said Carter.

IREAD results were also highlighted, with the scores from that assessment used to determine which students need reading intervention.

Carter also emphasized the importance of vulnerability with staff discussing data together versus separately.

“At the start of my career, talking about your data, you didn’t do that,” said Carter. “You looked at your results and moved on. To look at our practices and say ‘I want to grow, I want to do better,’ those are the conversations that didn’t happen a decade ago.”