THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, August 6, 1995 TAG: 9508040220
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 12 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY VANEE VINES, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 74 lines
The writing section of the three-part Literacy Passport Test again proved to be the toughest part for city sixth-graders this year.
Performance on the math section - which has historically given them less trouble - was a bit more impressive, but performance dipped in that area, too.
Overall, about 50 percent of all sixth-graders passed the reading, writing and math parts of the test on their first try this year, down from nearly 57 percent last year and 58 percent the year before.
The LPT, first given in the sixth grade, was intended to make sure students had mastered fundamentals before entering high school. Students who fail any part of the test the first time can retake that section. This year, about 40 percent of city test-takers previously had flunked one or more sections.
``We need more money to support kids in kindergarten and the primary grades leading up to the sixth,'' said the Rev. Charles H. Bowens II, a School Board member.
``Many of our children are weak at those earlier levels and they need special tutoring or services. It's just as simple as that. If not, we pay for it later. But now, we're having to take money from one part of the system and use it for another. We've had to do that so much that we're just robbing everything, weakening all of the efforts.''
Additional state aid allowed Portsmouth to expand offerings for at-risk 4-year-olds in the upcoming school year, but the needs are still great and resources are thin.
Students must pass all parts of the literacy 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 test. At the end of the 1994-95 year, 261 high school students still hadn't passed it.
In the upcoming school year, passage of all three parts will be among the criteria to earn a high school diploma; the Class of 1996 will be the first to face the new state standard.
This year, Cradock Middle, which has an extensive after-school tutoring and mentoring program, had the best showing among middle schools, with 55.3 percent of sixth-graders passing all three parts of the test.
Students at William E. Waters Middle had a tougher time. The overall pass rate for sixth-graders was 41.7 percent, down from 53 percent the year before. Principal Edgar Morgan said the drop was shocking because educators continued their in-house tutorial programs. And getting more kids to pass all parts of the test remained a schoolwide goal, he said.
Across the district, educators have taken steps to help students struggling with the LPT. Schools, for example, require ``remediation'' sessions during the regular day for students having trouble with the basics. The tutorials typically are held at times when students otherwise would attend an elective course.
The district offers LPT classes during the summer. And in the fourth grade, students are tested for academic weak areas so teachers and principals can develop individual learning plans to help them master many of the skills the LPT measures. Still, achievement remains spotty.
Administrators said one of the district's first initiatives in the 1995-96 year would put learning specialists in more frequent contact with teachers looking for better ways to improve students' reading and writing skills. ILLUSTRATION: Staff Graphic
Literacy passport test results
Source: Portsmouth Public schools
For copy of graphic, see microfilm
KEYWORDS: LITERACY PASSPORT TEST RESULTS PORTSMOUTH SCHOOLS by CNB