Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, June 28, 1990 TAG: 9006280355
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: BEDFORD/FRANKLIN
SOURCE: PATRICIA LOPEZ BADEN EDUCATION WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Virginia's percentile rankings on the achievement tests ranged from 53 to 68. The national norm is 50.
These standardized tests are given nationally each year to students in grades one, four, eight and 11 to determine student ability and achievement levels.
Test scores at the first-grade level were the same as last year while scores for fourth, eighth and eleventh grades increased slightly. Scores improved or stayed virtually the same in all subject areas.
Franklin County schools scored at or above the state average in most categories, although they ranked slightly below average in some eleventh-grade scores. Scores ranged from the 76th to 52nd percentiles, with most settling in the mid-50s to mid-60s.
In Bedford County, however, scores were below the state average in nearly every category, including reading, math, language and science.
Bedford County's scores ranged from a high of 73 to a low of 46, with most scores falling in the mid-50s.
Bedford County Superintendent John A. Kent said that while he hasn't had a chance to analyze the scores, he partially blamed a switch in tests.
Until last year, schools took the standardized tests of achievement and ability, commonly known as SRAs. Last year the state switched to the Iowa Test of Basic Achievement for fourth- and eighth-graders.
"It will take a few years before our curriculum lines up with the Iowas," Kent said. "We are trying to develop strategies to teach tested objectives and we believe our schools will continue making progress."
Bedford's eighth-grade scores did show improvement from last year, and Kent credits the new middle school concept, which focuses on team teaching and more personal attention for sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders.
Franklin County Superintendent Leonard Gereau, whose district also showed eighth-grade gains over last year, said he too credits middle school.
"I think it's due to the team teaching and site-based management we have at every school," he said. "It's really having an impact across the board."
Site-based management allows teachers much greater control over how curriculum is taught.
"We've been involved with that for the last four years," he said, "and scores have been going up each year."
In the Roanoke Valley, Roanoke County schools led, with scores ranging from 82 to 60. Most ranged from the low-60s to low-70s and ranked well above state averages in every category.
They were followed by Salem, where scores ranged from 58 to 78, placing them at or above the state average in most categories.
Salem's scores showed little change from last year in fourth grade, but a serious drop in eleventh-grade scores, which declined by several percentiles in every category.
Roanoke schools scored from 39 to 60, with most scores in the low-40s to mid-50s.
While fourth-grade scores remained virtually constant from last year, city schools posted impressive gains in eighth-grade scores, jumping as much as seven percentiles in some categories.
City Superintendent Frank Tota said that the overall low scores can be traced to the poor and disadvantaged students that make up 47 percent of the district's student population.
by CNB