THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, March 5, 1995 TAG: 9503030192
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 16 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Education
SOURCE: BY VANEE VINES, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 85 lines
Beginning next school year, passage of all three parts of the Literacy Passport Test will be among the criteria to earn a high school diploma.
1996 will be the first year that passage of the test is linked to graduation.
Most students take the test in February. The majority of those who take the test in the fall previously failed one or more parts.
The state Board of Education recently released Portsmouth's fall 1994 results. They showed that the literacy test remains a big hurdle for many students. According to a recent district report, at least 1,066 middle and high school students who had not passed all parts of the test had to retake some portion of it last month. Those results will be released this summer.
The state board also announced last month that high school seniors who transferred to a Virginia public school late next school year, and thereafter, will be required to pass all parts of the test to receive a diploma - even if they arrived at the end of the school year.
The board said it will continue to give students at least three chances to pass.
But if a senior transfers to a high school late in the 1995-96 year, after the spring test date, the state will not be obligated to administer the test in time for graduation, the board said.
Such students could later return to school to take the test; and they would have the same three chances to pass it, officials said. The third date could be scheduled in May or over the summer.
The test, first given in the sixth grade, was designed to ensure that students have mastered fundamentals in reading, writing and math before entering high school.
Students who fail any portion of it in the sixth grade can retake it in subsequent years. Last year, 56.7 percent of the city's sixth graders passed all three parts of the test the first time.
Students must pass all parts of the test to be considered ninth-graders. But many haven't cleared that hurdle, instead moving through school with an ``ungraded'' label, which usually means they weren't assigned to a grade because they didn't pass the literacy test.
Locally, educators have taken steps to help students struggling with it. Several schools, for example, have after-school programs in which students receive extra instruction in basic skills. Others have set aside time during the school day to provide some students with intensive tutoring when they otherwise would attend an elective course. Such tutoring is offered once to twice a week.
The school district also has offered a summer program that targets students who had little success on the test. ILLUSTRATION: LITERACY TEST RESULTS
Chart
GRADE 7 8 9 UG 10 UG 11
LTP/9* LTP/10*
Took reading 447 244 49 60 30 13 31
Passed reading 178 98 35 30 21 6 30
Percent passed 39.8 40.2 71.4 50 70 46.2 96.8
Took writing 313 176 49 58 27 ** 29
Passed writing 137 80 27 30 20 ** 26
Percent passed 43.8 45.5 55.1 51.7 74.1 ** 89.7
Took math 270 184 53 44 30 12 30
Passed math 95 95 32 17 21 5 30
Percent passed 35.2 51.6 60.4 38.6 70 41.7 100
Took all 3 parts 135 88 39 20 25 ** 26
Passed all 3 parts 29 29 19 8 16 ** 23
Percent passed 21.5 33 48.7 40 64 ** 88.5
Source: State Department of Education, Richmond; results from fall
1994.
Note: Each category is numerically independent. Some students are
represented in more than one category.
* The state uses this code to identify the grade students would be
in had they passed the literacy test. ``LTP'' refers to the state's
Literacy Testing Program. The test is called the Literacy Passport
Test. ``UG'' means ungraded.
** Fewer than 11 students were tested. The state omitted this data
to maintain confidentiality of individual students.
KEYWORDS: STANDARDIZED TESTING LITERACY PASSPORT EDUCATION by CNB