THE JOURNAL & TOPICS NEWSPAPERS | WEDNESDAY, MARCH 12, 2008
2 Teacher Contracts Cut, But They'll 'Likely' Be Back
By RICHARD MAYER
Journal Reporter
Rosemont Elementary School Dist. 78 Board members Monday night decided not to renew the contracts of two teachers.
Third grade teacher Anne Bigane and Resource teacher Jason Taylor will finish out their contracts that end in June.
According to Supt. Kevin Anderson, the district will "most likely" hire both of them back for next year at the May board meeting.
Anderson said this is a procedure the district does to protect itself in case the teachers find another job or the district de cides not to hire them.
ISAT Testing
In addition to the teacher's contract, Anderson said the Illinois Standards Achievement Test (ISAT) that students have been taking since last Tuesday is "going well," but board members and staff "should" keep an eye on the results once the testing is completed at the end of this week.
Anderson said the 12 English as a Second Language (ESL) students scores could vary due to certain accommodations.
Students in Dist. 78 who are not proficient in English were given options when they began taking the test. The state is al lowing accom modations for those students who possess fewer English skills.
The first accommodation is once a student reaches frustra tion level during test taking, it is suggested they stop and dis continue the exam. The second accommodation is to al low extra time to complete the test.
Numerous educators believe non-English or little-English speaking students will have a diffi cult time with the new test and expect scores to fall below the standards set by the federal No Child Left Behind law.