ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, December 3, 1996 TAG: 9612030064
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: NORFOLK
SOURCE: Associated Press
The performance of Virginia's public school students is ``average to disappointing,'' according to the draft of an annual report by the state Board of Education.
Fourth-grade reading scores are down, and sixth-grade Literacy Passport Test passing rates continue to hover at less than seven out of 10. But the percentage of students receiving scores that qualify for college credit on Advanced Placement exams is a little ahead of the national average.
``Good and bad news,'' said Michelle Easton, the board's president.
Virginia law requires that an annual accounting of public schools - the Annual Report on the Status of Public Education - be submitted to the governor and General Assembly. The draft is being fine-tuned for presentation in January, when the 1997 legislative session convenes.
``The point of this report is: `Where are we, really?' This is a worrisome thing,'' Easton said.
Particularly troubling were the fourth-grade scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, a random-sample, national-survey test conducted by the U.S. Department of Education.
Virginia's 1994 average score on the test was a point above the national average and 5 points above the Southeast average. But Virginia's score was 8 points less than in 1992 - a bigger drop than any of the other 40 participating states.
In comparison, the Southeast and the nation as a whole dropped 3 points in the same time. In 1992, Virginia was 6 points above the national average and 10 points above the Southeast average.
Forty-three percent of Virginia fourth-graders scored below the test's ``basic'' level in 1994, up from 33 percent in 1992. Still, it was 2 percentage points higher than the national average in 1994, while in 1992 it was 7 points below the national average.
Since the test is a survey only of random classrooms, no score breakdown by localities is kept.
Also in the status report:
* In 1995-96, 68 percent of Virginia high-school students took the Scholastic Assessment Test college-entrance exam, compared to 41 percent nationally. Even with more students taking the test - which tends to lower scores - Virginia students scored close to the national average: a little ahead in verbal, 507 in Virginia to 505 nationally; a little behind in math, 496 in Virginia to 508 nationally. This continues a five-year trend.
* In the past school year, almost 33,700 Virginia high school students took Advanced Placement exams, 5 percent more than the previous year but less than the national increase of 7.4 percent.
Sixty-four percent of Virginia students scored 3 or above on the tests, which usually qualifies for college credit, slightly better than the 63.5 percent nationally. But that national rate represented an increase of 9.9 percent; Virginia's increase was 6.8 percent.
* State students last year scored higher than the national norm - but not by much - in all subjects on the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills, the standardized test that Virginia is replacing next spring.
In the composite or overall average, fourth-graders scored in the 61st percentile, meaning they did better than 61 percent of those taking the test nationally. Eighth-graders scored in the 58th percentile.
Eleventh-graders also scored in the 58th percentile on the standardized test they take, the Test of Achievement and Proficiency. All the Virginia scores are within a few points of its recent years' scores, indicating not much has changed.
Overall, the report ``tells me that the state board is on track with a lot of the things we're working on,'' Easton said. ``We've got some outstanding achievement in Virginia, and some areas we need to continue working on.''
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