Articles

Worst-Performing Groups Post Biggest Gains On State Reading Test

Mary MacDonald, AJC Staff
June 3, 2004

Even though black and Hispanic students failed a critical reading exam this spring in disproportionate numbers, the gap in achievement has narrowed for third-graders in the latest round of state testing.

Also, third-graders in special education or who have difficulty with English passed the reading exam at much higher rates compared to 2002.

State schools Superintendent Kathy Cox on Thursday said the improved performance by students who traditionally have struggled with standardized exams suggested Georgia could be a national model.

She took note of the trend after highlighting an unexpectedly strong showing across the board on the state's curriculum exam, the Criterion-Referenced Competency Test.

Overall, just 10 percent of the state's third-graders failed the exam, far less than officials had projected. The students who failed risk being required to retake and pass the test before being promoted to fourth grade.

Even though it has one of Georgia's highest percentage of Hispanic students, Gainesville Elementary School, which opened in August, recorded a 90 percent passing rate among its third-graders on the reading exam.

Shawn Arevalo McCollough the principal, said he was aware of the challenges faced at a school where 65 percent of the 500 students are Hispanic. "We said from the beginning we were not going to make any excuses," he said.

He credited the students' success to after-school and Saturday sessions in which they concentrated on reading, language arts and math -- the basic sections of the curriculum exam.

"We outworked everybody," McCollough said. "That's how we closed the achievement gap."

Statewide, Cox reported the following amongthird-graders:

•ÊNineteen percent of Hispanic students failed the reading exam, an improvement from the 29 percent recorded in 2002. Thirteen percent of African-American students failed, compared with 23 percent two years ago.

•ÊThe greatest failure rate was among students with limited English proficiency, but their performance also improved the most. Thirty-two percent failed the reading exam this year, compared with 52 percent in 2002.

•ÊTwenty-six percent of special education students did not meet the reading standards. Two years ago, 45 percent failed.

"That is unbelievable," Cox said of the results.

Overall, about 11,000 third-graders failed the reading exam and potentially will have to repeat the grade next school year if they do not pass a second attempt this summer. The number of failing students -- about 10 percent of the state's third-graders -- was far less than the 26,000 projected by the state based on past performance.

Cox credited the improvement to a greater focus on reading in kindergarten through third grade and to smaller class sizes.

The scores in reading, math and language arts will be used to determine which Georgia schools have met state testing goals under the federal No Child Left Behind Act. The list of schools is expected to be released next month, Cox said.

Schools that fail to make enough progress may be required to offer students transfers to better-performing schools and, in some cases, free tutoring to those students who remain.

Last year, the CRCT had to be scratched at the last minute for all but fourth-, sixth- and eighth-graders after it was learned that some teachers had inadvertently used actual test questions to prepare students.

As a result, the state could only compare scores for most grades to the 2002 results. But in the fourth, sixth and eighth grades, the five-year track record generally has shown consistent improvement.

Cox credited focused instruction on the curriculum.

However, FairTest, a Massachusetts-based advocacy group that opposes high-stakes testing, said the improved scores could mean that teachers and students now have a better idea of what to expect from the exams.

Student scores on new standardized tests generally start low and then improve over time as teachers start to understand what will be covered, said Monty Neill, executive director of FairTest. Even if the questions change, he said, teachers start to understand what will be covered.

• ON THE WEB: The state curriculum test results can be viewed online at www.gadoe.org.

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