THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, March 16, 1995 TAG: 9503140124
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 12 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JON GLASS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 94 lines
THE STATE Literacy Passport Test is proving to be a hurdle for a significant minority of Norfolk students who should have mastered the skills it measures, test results show.
Students are supposed to have a grasp of the math, reading and writing skills by sixth grade, when they take the test for the first time. If they don't pass the test in sixth grade, students have to keep taking it until they do.
Of the 2,707 Norfolk students in grades seven through 11 who took the test last fall, fewer than half - 1,227 or 45 percent - now have passed all three sections, figures released recently by the state Department of Education show.
Many of the students were taking the test for at least the second time.
The shakeout left 1,480 students in those grades who have yet to pass all three sections. Of that number, 293 - or 20 percent - are in high school.
``I was hoping the results would have been better,'' said Lafayette-Winona Middle Principal Stephen Peters, who has beefed up efforts to help seventh- and eighth-graders at his school pass the test.
Students who have failed to pass the test before leaving eighth grade are not considered ninth-graders. Instead, they are labeled ``ungraded'' until they pass it. On last fall's test, 54 of the 224 ungraded students who retook the test - or 24 percent - passed.
Local officials view the situation with growing urgency: Beginning next year, students who haven't passed will not be able to receive a high school diploma.
That deadline is forcing students, parents and school administrators to buckle down. Elementary schools, where officials say the real work must be done, are focusing on integrating writing and reading throughout the curriculum.
In varying degrees, every middle school in the city offers programs to enhance the success of students taking the test.
Reading and math specialists at Lake Taylor Middle, for example, work with small groups of seventh and eighth graders during and after school, Principal Toni Portlock said.
At Lafayette-Winona, teachers three days a week stay after school to tutor students.
``We have many, many teachers who stay back after school to give these kids extra help,'' Peters said. ``I just think it's a wonderful gift to have teachers willing to do that.''
Before the fall test, Peters' school held a workshop to encourage parents to work with their children. Parents, for example, are encouraged to read books with their children and discuss the content and key points made. Parents also can make sure kids understand their homework.
And Peters said teachers try to demystify the learning process.
``Many parents had no idea what they could do at home to support what we're doing here at school,'' Peters said.
At Blair Middle, eighth-graders who have not passed the reading or writing sections are drilled in basic skills and test-taking techniques by a reading specialist, Principal George Boothby said. Since the test quizzes kids on nonfiction reading selections, Boothby said, students in the class are given more nonfiction assignments to read and discuss.
``The teacher zeros in on those skills essential to passing the test,'' Boothby said.
The middle schools continue to coach kids who have failed to pass the test during the summer with a voluntary program funded by the state. Last summer, attendance set a record, a sign that parents recognize the importance of their children passing the test, school officials said.
Last spring, 53.4 percent - or 1,399 - of the 2,619 Norfolk sixth-graders taking the test for the first time passed. At a retreat last summer, School Board member Robert F. Williams said the number should be 75 percent. ILLUSTRATION: LITERACY PASSPORT TEST
Grade No. of students No. of students Percent
taking fall test who passed passing
7 1,332 513 38.5
8 658 290 44
Ungraded 224 54 24
9 333 242 73
10 111 86 77
11 49 42 86
Total 2,707 1,227 45
Note: Some students who took the fall test already had passed at
least one section of the three-part Literacy Passport Test.
Students begin taking it in sixth grade. If they don't pass it by
the time they leave middle school, they can't qualify as
ninth-graders and are classified as ``ungraded.'' They remain
ungraded until they pass it.
Students in grades 9, 10 and 11 include transfer students and
others who had never taken the test. Beginning in 1996, students
must pass the test to receive a high school diploma.
KEYWORDS: STANDARDIZED TESTS LITERACY PASSPORT RESULTS by CNB