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- Zion-Benton Township High School D126
- School Improvement Initiatives
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The School Improvement section of District 126’s website is where stakeholders can view information regarding the state of Illinois’ school improvement efforts, as well as District 126’s school improvement efforts.
Illinois Standards and Assessment
Public education across the United States has experienced sweeping reform in recent years, resulting in Illinois’ adoption of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in 2010 and the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) in 2014. Coupled with the adoption of these standards, Illinois also revamped its assessment system, with the adoption of the Illinois Science Assessment (ISA) in 2015. As of the spring of 2016, to comply with federal testing requirements, Illinois began annually administering the ISA to Biology students at the high school level. In District 126, this course-based assessment results in students enrolled in Biology taking the ISA each spring (namely freshmen).
In addition, as of July 2016, Illinois announced that all juniors in the state of Illinois would take the College Board’s SAT exam, including a writing component, in the spring of their junior year. As of June of 2018, Illinois reaffirmed its commitment to SAT as the high school assessment and added the PSAT 8/9 for freshmen and the PSAT 10 for sophomores to ensure school districts could more effectively measure student progress and inform instruction throughout high school.
For more information regarding state and local school improvement initiatives, please view the following links or other links under the Curriculum and Instruction section of the District 126 website.
- ISBE Common Core Fact Sheet: click here
- ISBE Common Core Frequently Asked Questions: click here
- Next Generation Science Standards Frequently Asked Questions: click here
- About the SAT Suite of Assessments: click here
Parent Involvement in School Improvement Efforts
We encourage parents who are interested in being more actively involved in the school improvement process to attend our Parent Bee Network sponsored meetings and events, as well as our District Equity Advisory Council. We also encourage parents to participate in our annual Title I planning meetings. Please watch for announcements regarding these opportunities in the district's newsletters and view the district’s calendar link to confirm dates and times.