Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, June 20, 1995                   TAG: 9506200090
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

`COMBINED EFFORT' HELPS STUDENTS BOOST TEST SCORES

Roanoke's efforts to increase the test scores of students are beginning to pay off, even quicker than some school officials had hoped.

They said Monday that it's no coincidence that scores on a wide range of academic and standardized tests increased from 1993 to 1994, because the school system is giving more attention to these tests and making a unified attempt to boost scores, said Rita Bishop, assistant superintendent of instruction.

"It is a very large combined effort by everyone," she said.

The city's SAT scores for high school seniors increased significantly. The schools also reported a jump in scores on the state's Outcomes Accountability Project tests and the Iowa Test of Basic Skills in several grades. Test scores are released in the school year following the year the tests are taken.

Superintendent Wayne Harris highlighted the SAT results, in addition to the rise in other test scores, in his state-of-the-schools address last week.

The city's average score on the math section of the SAT increased 25 points. The score on the verbal section rose 13 points.

The city's scores remained below both state and national averages, but the city's increased, while state and national scores remained almost flat.

The 1994 results were based on the old scoring system. The 1995 results, which will be based on a new scoring system that will produce higher scores, won't be available until August.

Roanoke school officials cite several reasons for higher SAT scores.

New standards for mathematics instruction and greater use of technology have helped, said Vella Wright, director of the schools' Office of Research, Testing and Evaluation.

School officials also are encouraging more students to take advanced mathematics courses, especially geometry and algebra, she said.

Hillery Callahan, the city's reading coordinator, said it's difficult to pinpoint a specific reason for the increase in verbal scores, but she believes the heavy emphasis on literature in English and language arts courses is a factor.

"The students are being immersed in literature," Callahan said. "The more students read, the better readers they become."

David Partington, director of secondary and middle education, said school officials are giving more attention to the standardized tests and SATs.

"We know they are important," Partington said. "They are no longer being passed off as unimportant."

The school system offers a preparatory course to help students score higher on the SAT.

Scores for Roanoke's seniors have shown ups and downs in the past four years. Over that time, there has been a cumulative gain of one point in the average verbal score, and a cumulative gain of nine points on the math section.

Harris said Roanoke students' scores on the Outcomes Accountability Project and Iowa Test of Basic Skills improved over last year's at all grade levels.

But there is some bad news. The state Literacy Passport tests showed a decline in the number of sixth-graders who passed all three parts of the state test. School officials have established a summer remediation program to help prepare students to take the test again in October.