Posted on 05/03/2007 8:10:43 AM PDT by devane617
LAND O'LAKES - About 950 Pasco County third-graders - that's 260 more than a year ago - might have to repeat the grade after failing the FCAT reading exam this spring.
Things look worst for Cox Elementary in Dade City, where fewer than half of the school's 85 third-graders performed at grade level on either the reading or math sections of the test. Last year, more than 60 percent of the school's third-graders were reading at grade level.
Cox is one of nine county schools facing sanctions under the federal No Child Left Behind Act if it does not show overall improvement in student achievement this year.
FCAT results released Wednesday also showed that just 63 high school seniors passed the exit-level reading exam, of 347 who took it, and 63 passed the math section, of 185 who took it. The success rate on reading was up slightly, but still below 20 percent, while the math rate sank a bit to 34 percent.
The remaining FCAT scores are not expected for at least two weeks.
Most of the attention this year goes to the third-grade results because they went down after several years of increases.
State and local officials pointed to a continued upward trend since 2001, calling last year's results a "spike" that did not follow the otherwise smooth line of improvement. In Pasco, for instance, the outcome is better than that of 2005, though below last year's numbers.
This year, 19 percent of Pasco third-graders scored at the lowest level on the reading test. That's worse than the 14 percent of a year ago, but better than the 20 percent of 2005. In math, 14 percent received the lowest mark, improved from 15 percent a year ago and 17 percent in 2005.
"When you look at the scores over a six-year period the trend is moving in a positive direction and it's continuing that way. There was a spike in that trend last year, " superintendent Heather Fiorentino said.
She used Cox as an example. Though the school showed a one-year 17-point swing down in the percentage of children reading at or above grade level, it actually had a slow but steady increase since 2003, when just 35 percent of Cox third-graders were reading at grade level, Fiorentino noted.
That's despite having 95 percent of its students receiving free lunches and 89 percent having limited English abilities.
"We're not saying we don't have more work to do, " she said. "But they have moved up and that's a positive thing."
She and her staff did not buy into what some are calling the "cohort effect." That's where you explain away a year's results by saying the students were exceptional.
"I don't think you can just explain it away by saying ... 1998 was a really great year to be a baby, " said research and evaluation director David Scanga, who figured it would take some time to figure out why last year's third-graders did so well.
Fiorentino liked to look at several positive aspects within the test results. For instance, a majority of Pasco third-graders did better than the national average in reading and math on the Stanford Achievement Test section of the FCAT.
Also, Mary Giella Elementary reduced the percentage of lowest-performing students in reading to 11 percent from 24 percent; and Lacoochee Elementary saw its percentage of Level 1 readers drop to 9 percent, from 19 percent, while it increased the percentage of students at grade level or higher in math to 73 percent.
Pine View, Sand Pine, Longleaf and Trinity Oaks elementary schools continued to have success, with more than 80 percent of their students reading at or above grade level. Longleaf had just 1 percent of students at Level 1 in math, with 91 percent at grade level or above.
The state releases much less information about the senior retakes. No school by school results, for instance. Still, Pasco officials were heartened by the general improvement of the district passing rate, noting that those few who continue to take the FCAT as seniors are "our most struggling students" yet they have not dropped out.
Scanga added that a preliminary look at 11th-grade repeaters shows improvement in the passing rate, too. Most important, assistant superintendent Sandra Ramos said, is that Pasco sophomores succeed on the exit-level exam, which is first given in 10th grade.
"We want 10th-graders passing on the first time, " Ramos said.
Guilty as charged. I believe that I earned my high school diploma in spite of my k-12 public school teachers, aka insecure control freaks. College was a different story, thank God.
Blame the parent.
I have an idea! ( Not as expensive as holding a child back)
Send these children to Sylvan Tutoring Centers for the summer. My guess is that almost all of these failling kids would not only pass the state exam, but by the end of the summer would be a year ahead of those kids who did pass the state exam.
Opps! Did I say Sylvan? A **Profit** making concern? Well...We all know how the Marxists running the government schools **feel** (sarc) about **profit**. ( Those eeeeevil capitalists!)
Remember, with athletic & social involvements taking time and financial priority
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
One of the main reason the useful idiots in America support the government schools is that they develop farm teams for the big leagues.
Remember, with athletic & social involvements taking time and financial priority
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
One of the main reason the useful idiots in America support the government schools is that they develop farm teams for the big leagues.
You don’t know what you are talking about when it comes to the teaching of reading to children who are either socially and/or culturally deprived and/or learning disabled.
Right up there with a gem *I* heard on a nationwide report on welfare where one person actually said, "I works hard for my welfare check"... Needless to say, I was totally flabbergasted...
the infowarrior
Most high school athletes do not feed into any type of organized pro sport.
NEA excuse #4
The public is stupid.
Right out of the NEA handbook, you have no clue about a classroom.
Yeah, blaming the teachers is a classic NEA plot. Not even close, buddy.
One of the biggest problem in public schools goes unmentioned:
Too many kids JUST DON’T GIVE A SH*T. Nothing any teacher, program, or even private school can do will change that.
It stems from PARENTS. If they don’t teach their kids the value of an education, and the kids don’t care a whit about learning, nothing any of us can do will ever change that.
I
am
not
in
the
N
E
A
I have no knowledge of their goals or their plans, nor do I appreciate being lumped in with them. I have told you this at least a dozen times and yet you continue to insinuate I am a member. I am not and you are harrassing me with these statements.
Bookmark this post so that the next time you want to include me with the NEA, you can refer back to this and go "OH! that's right! She isn't a member, hates the organization, and does not wish for me to include her in a post about them! I will refrain from doing so because I am an intelligent human being and would never, ever want to be accused of harrassment!"
Try it, it will work 100% of the time. I guarantee it!
Do not post to or about SoftballMominVA.
I'm not surprised.
I hear ya. However, why should teachers be different from everyone else?
However, in your original post you just said immigrants...
Sorry - forgot my /sarcasm tag.
You’re welcome.
If you quack like a duck and walk like a duck, you’re a duck.
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