THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, August 9, 1996 TAG: 9608070091
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 04 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Education
SOURCE: By DENISE WATSON, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 151 lines
Making kids smarter has been a passion of Camelot Elementary School's Lillian Faulk throughout her 25 years as an educator.
But it was a newspaper article she read five years ago that began her mission of making students more test-smart.
``I had only been principal for about two weeks when I saw an article about test scores among fourth-graders. In the corner was a little box that listed the worst schools; Camelot was the first one listed,'' Faulk remembered.
``I thought to myself, `I have a lot of work to do.' ''
She went to her students, showed them the article, and challenged them to improve their scores. She talked to her teachers, who began incorporating test-taking methods in class, such as having students put answers of a math test on a separate sheet of paper as required with standardized tests. Camelot began weekly mock tests and math and reading reviews.
It has paid off.
Camelot's test scores in standardized tests have inched upward over the years, but the most recent scores from the Literacy Passport Test, a crucial examination Virginia students must pass to graduate from high school, showed an impressive leap of 21.6 percentage points over last year's scores. Faulk said the math reviews and test-preparation techniques were the key to the increase.
The jump is the largest in the city, yet Chesapeake schools overall logged a 7 percentage point increase - up to 69 from 62 percent - in the number of sixth-graders taking and passing the Literacy Passport Test, a three-part exam given for the first time in the sixth grade.
Chesapeake's improvement is the second-best in the area, behind Norfolk's 9.4 percent increase. More Chesapeake sixth-graders passed the test this year than in any of the past five years. Yet, Chesapeake, like all South Hampton Roads districts besides Virginia Beach, still falls shy of the state's 69.5 percent passing rate.
The Literacy Passport Test measures basic skills in reading, writing and arithmetic, and the improvement was welcomed after Chesapeake's scores dropped nearly 6 percentage points in the 1994-95 school year.
``The biggest difference is the emphasis we put on testing this year,'' said Linda Palombo, assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction for Chesapeake schools.
``Last year, we looked at where we were and determined that it wasn't where we wanted to be.''
Last fall, the school system began a strategy to raise test scores, specifically with the Literacy Passport Test, which is given in February. The district produced a test improvement booklet, which was sent to all schools. Principals were required to devise an improvement plan for their schools. Plans detailed ways to mesh testing methods with everyday curriculum and processes to better prepare students and their parents for testing.
Plans were submitted to school administrators last October, where they were revised, shipped back and resubmitted. Palombo and other officials visited each principal to help them implement the plans.
``There had to be involvement with parents, teachers and students,'' Palombo said. ``There was the realization that each school's plan had to be different.''
Over the course of the year, some schools provided more tutoring for students. Some held parent-teaching classes to educate the parents about the importance of the Literacy Passport Test. Some teachers gave more writing assignments to sharpen students' composition skills and prepare them for the test's required essay. Letters about the need for a full night's sleep and a good breakfast before taking the test were sent home shortly before test day.
``Parents were really appreciative,'' said James Rayfield, director of secondary instruction.
``We sent them a test improvement booklet to go through with their children; they had a document they could sit down and prepare with. They were receptive to the need.''
For the past few years, the school district has offered summer remedial classes for students who've failed one or more sections of the test. But for the first time this summer, the Virginia Department of Education allowed school districts to administer the test.
Nearly half the sixth-graders who failed the test this spring were enrolled in a June-July class. Another class began last week and runs through August.
``In the past, students would take the courses during the summer, but couldn't re-test until October,'' Palombo said. ``We expect students taking the June course, and taking the test immediately afterward, to do better.''
Chesapeake also has created a new position dedicated to improving test scores - supervisor of instructional testing and assessment. The testing supervisor will help streamline and improve last year's efforts as well as help adapt successful programs, such as some of Faulk's work, to other schools.
``We know that in certain schools the scores are so high there isn't going to be much improvement,'' Palombo said. ``But we want to see improvement in all situations.''
Of Chesapeake's middle, intermediate and elementary schools with sixth-graders, Great Bridge Middle School North earned the highest passing rate at 79.9 percent - a 0.2-percentage-point increase over last year's rate - and Camelot ranked second.
G.A. Treakle Elementary School went over the halfway mark with 55.9 percent of sixth-graders passing, opposed to last year's 48.7 percent.
Oscar F. Smith Middle School had the lowest scores, with only one in three students passing all three sections of the test for an average of 33.5 percent. Yet their scores were 7.2 percentage points better than last year's results. In the math portion of the test, Oscar F. Smith Middle School students had the highest improvement rate, 16.3 percentage points.
Former principal Charles Jubilee said that there is room for improvement but that he is pleased with the progress.
``Every student had to write a page on how we could help them improve their test scores,'' said Jubilee, who became personnel administrator for the school system in July.
``I think that was the turning point, a serious focus. The parents made comments, students asked for more tutoring programs, help after school including more peer teaching. . . . I think if the school continues to make kids focused, they will continue to do well.'' ILLUSTRATION: LITERACY PASSPORT TEST
In the 1989-90 school year, the state began the Literacy Passport
Test to measure the basic skills all students need to know to
graduate. It's divided into three areas, testing minimum competency
in written composition, reading ability and math skills. Students
need to pass all three sections to get a high school diploma and to
participate in school sports or some extracurricular activities.
In math, the test requires a range of skills from knowing how to
multiply fractions to understanding parallelism.
In reading, it means reading a passage like ``The dog must obey.
But it must also know when not to obey. Good ------ is important.''
and filling in the blank with one the following choices: (a)
progress, (b) sense, (c) company, (d) food, (e) health. (The correct
answer is ``(b) sense.'')
In writing, it means choosing a topic and writing about it
coherently.
If students don't pass, they may take it over each year until
they do. They cannot receive a high school diploma until they pass.
The percentage of sixth-graders who passed all three sections of
the state Literacy Passport Test increased this school year at
Chesapeake's middle, intermediate and two elementary schools. Below
is the percentage of students passing at each school for the past
two years.
Camelot Elementary - 78.7 in 1995-1996; 57.1 in 1994-1995;
increase of 21.6.
G.A. Treakle Elementary - 55.9 in 1995-1996; 48.7 in 1994-1995;
increase of 7.2.
Deep Creek Intermediate - 60.7 in 1995-1996; 55.8 in 1994-1995;
increase of 4.9.
Western Branch Middle - 74.7 in 1995-1996; 67.1 in 1994-1995;
increase of 7.6.
Great Bridge Middle North - 79.9 in 1995-1996; 79.7 in 1994-1995;
increase of 0.2.
Crestwood Middle - 74.8 in 1995-1996; 68.4 in 1994-1995; increase
of 6.4.
Indian River Middle - 65.5 in 1995-1996; 59.2 in 1994-1995;
increase of 6.3.
Oscar F. Smith Middle - 33.5 in 1995-1996; 26.3 in 1994-1995;
increase of 7.2.
Overall - 69 in 1995-1996; 62 in 1994-1995; increase of 7.
Source: Chesapeake schools
KEYWORDS: STANDARDIZED TESTS TEST SCORES LITERACY PASSPORT
TEST CHESAPEAKE SCHOOLS by CNB