THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, December 12, 1995 TAG: 9512120269
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY PERRY PARKS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ELIZABETH CITY LENGTH: Long : 105 lines
The Elizabeth City-Pasquotank Schools, one of the most highly regarded districts in the state, is the only system that failed to improve on any of the three key tests on North Carolina's ``report card.''
The state Department of Public Instruction last week released largely positive results for most districts from multiple-choice end-of-grade and end-of-course tests taken across the state last spring.
In third- through eighth-grade reading and math scores, nearly all districts showed improvements between 1993 and 1995. More than half the state's 119 districts improved in high school core courses.
Every system except Elizabeth City-Pasquotank increased its percentage of proficient students on at least one of those three tests.
``I'm disappointed that we didn't do better,'' Elizabeth City-Pasquotank Superintendent Joe Peel said Monday. ``I'm disappointed because I know how hard we've worked and the progress that we've made.''
Few would argue that the Elizabeth City-Pasquotank schools have made progress over the last few years. Although the district is grappling with many of the problems facing other small, poor districts in the state, it is also looked to as one of the leading innovators in education.
Gov. James B. Hunt Jr. singled out the system as the most entrepreneurial in North Carolina this fall, recognizing a host of initiatives in teaching, discipline and grant seeking.
The district is one of 10 helping to decide how schools will be held accountable for their work under the state's new educational structure. It is also one of 10 districts trying to rewrite the book on educational standards and making sure students meet them.
With all these other initiatives underway, Peel said, the explanation for not improving on the basic multiple choice tests is simple.
``We really haven't focused on these tests,'' Peel said. ``We received the governor's entrepreneurial award for being willing to take risks and try new things.
``Focusing on tests is really not the way to drive what we do. What we've chosen to focus on is preparing kids to enter the workplace.''
Over the last few years, the district has concentrated on writing, reasoning and thinking skills - skills that Elizabeth City-Pasquotank students are making gains on in less-discussed tests.
These ``open-ended'' exams require students to supply and explain their answers. And Pasquotank students in many cases have performed better than their average North Carolina peers, said Rita Collie, district director of testing and accountability.
The state report card focuses on the end-of-grade and end-of-course tests. But the Department of Public Instruction gathers information on more than 20 indicators, Collie said.
Among the measures Elizabeth City-Pasquotank is pleased with:
Students throughout the district scored much closer to the state average on open-ended tests. Third grade math and sixth grade reading scores exceeded the state average.
Open-ended reading scores improved in grades 3, 4, 6 and 7. Open-ended math scores improved in grades 3, 4, 5, 7 and 8.
There was increased participation in advanced high school courses and on the SAT college entrance examination.
The open-ended results, Peel said, are the first time the district has shown systematic districtwide gains.
``Most all of our schools, most all of our grades, have shown significant growth,'' Peel said.
But if students did well on these higher-order exams, what is keeping them from doing well on the more basic multiple-choice tests?
Collie said students who are better trained to analyze may be less likely to agree with the test writer's ``correct'' answer.
``Students who are very thoughtful will actually find a couple of answers that could be right,'' Collie said.
Despite their reservations about the multiple-choice tests, administrators are pushing teachers this year to produce better results on the end-of-grade and end-of-course exams, Peel said. Officials reorganizing the state's education bureaucracy have indicated that districts' performance on end-of-grade tests will be crucial to their success.
``We have focused on those tests this year,'' Peel said. ``It's a matter of setting priorities.
``We're not stupid. It became pretty clear that these tests were going to become much more important. . . . I would expect that this year we will see a significant increase in our end-of-grade multiple-choice results.''
Collie said the district is trying to focus more on state-mandated curriculum, not on test-taking methods.
``Teaching to the test is an empty strategy,'' Collie said. ``The time and the focus are going to be the things that will give us the payoff.''
Now that the district has spent two years working on broader, skills-based concepts, administrators expect success in raising proficiency on the multiple-choice tests.
``It's easier to start big and focus in,'' Peel said. ILLUSTRATION: Graphics
AREA SCHOOL DISTRICTS
Percentage of students achieving at proficient levels in area school
districts, grades 3-6.
SIX COURSES
Percentage of high school students achieving at proficient levels in
six core courses.
SOURCE: North Carolina Department of Public Instruction.
[For complete graphics, please see microfilm]
by CNB