July 23, 2000
Better scores at 21 schools show broad improvement is possible
By Hipolito R. Corella and Sarah Garrecht Gassen
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
Students have shown they can raise their Stanford 9 test scores regardless of their race, economic status or neighborhood, an analysis of test results at Pima County public schools shows.
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Schools showing improvement
Find out which 21 Pima County schools improved their scores according to a study by The Arizona Daily Star.
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Granted, students in wealthier areas continue to score higher on average than those in poorer neighborhoods.
But students at 21 of the more than 200 schools across the county scored higher on average this year in reading, math and language - at every grade level tested - than they did in 1997, the first time Arizona students took the test.
Minority enrollment at the 21 schools ranged from 25 percent to 99 percent. Eligibility for free or reduced-price lunch - a low-income indicator - ranged from 16 percent to 97 percent.
Educators and experts credit high expectations, parental involvement and a renewed and creative commitment to the three Rs.
"Good teaching is good teaching," said Principal Annabel Crites, who saw a steady climb in scores at the East Side's Gale Elementary.
Crites, now one of two half-time principals at Rogers Elementary, said Gale built on students' curiosity and teachers' collaboration.
"The teacher is still teaching the students how to read, but they're reading about things they want to know," she said, citing lesson plans that have been wrapped around students' interest in bugs.
"We're really showing children how to think."
The effort has helped the school keep its students' average Stanford 9 scores above the 50th percentile in every category since 1997. That means they scored better than 50 percent of the national student sample at their grade levels.
The Arizona Daily Star's analysis of the Stanford 9 scores compared the percentile rank scores of 1997 to those of 2000. Scores for 1998 and 1999 were not considered.
The Stanford 9 test measures students' achievement in reading, math and language. Scores are compared to a national norm. Twelve states use the test.
More than 650,000 Arizona students in grades 2 through 11 took the test last spring.
To make the Star's list, a school's students had to maintain or improve their scores in all three subjects and in all the grades tested.
Scores for second-graders were dropped from the analysis because the state did not start testing them until 1999. Twelfth-grade scores were excluded because the state stopped testing them the same year.
And while the comparison is too limited to signify the quality of the schools, it does indicate a general progress.
"This shows school improvement can happen anywhere," said Laura Penny, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Education.
"One point may not be statistically significant, but improvement in all grades, across all content areas, indicates these schools are making a real effort."
That means schools like the North Side's Davidson Elementary made the list even though the only time it cracked the 50th percentile since 1997 was this spring when its fifth-graders scored a 51 in reading.
"We've really worked hard," Principal Mary Thalgott said.
Students and teachers at Davidson are up against many factors that portend poor performance. For example, only half the school's pupils are there from one year to the next and, and 86 percent qualify for free or reduced lunch.
Thalgott said students are required to read for 90 minutes each morning, in groups organized by reading ability rather than grade.
All students' reading and math abilities are evaluated regularly during the school year to help ensure they're making progress.
"I have two notebooks in my office that can tell me where every child is in math and reading at every quarter they've been here," Thalgott said.
She said the school has used a "micro-
society" to help boost students' interest in learning.
For example, students can earn "Davidson dollars" for good attendance and doing well in class. The dollars can be used to buy things - like used tennis balls or school supplies - at student-run stores.
"It's been a real buy-in for the kids," Thalgott said.
At Corbett Elementary, Principal Jane Klipp said she's gone beyond the school grounds to help boost scores at the midtown campus.
Klipp said the school relies heavily on volunteers and mentors from the surrounding neighborhood, the University of Arizona, the Tucson Fire Department and the Air National Guard.
"We're trying to build a stronger sense of community," she said, citing the school's work with neighbors to improve nearby Harriet Johnson Park.
Marana High School students practiced for the Stanford 9 by spending 15 minutes on teacher-generated sample questions every Wednesday morning last year, said Associate Principal Jim Doty.
"Every teacher did this, even the physical education teachers and the auto shop teachers," Doty said. "It really made the point to the students that this is important. Our scores drove home the realization . . . there was more we could do."
Doty said students also have writing assignments in every class. "We wanted kids to know that writing correctly wasn't just something they did in their English class."
In Sunnyside Unified School District, two of 13 elementary schools, Los Ranchitos and Ocotillo, and Sunnyside High showed progress.
"It's a combination of many factors, such as leadership, staff cohesiveness, community support and involvement," said Alex Duran, director of research, assessment and evaluation for the district, which spans the South and Southeast sides.
"The greater the level of cohesiveness between the school and teachers, the greater the improvement is going to be. It's a team effort."
Testing expert Jerry D'Agostino, an assistant professor in education psychology at the UA, said that while not perfect, this type of analysis can be one indicator of progress.
"If it just went up one point in one grade in one subject, then you could say there are a whole host of reasons outside the school's control, like a change in student demographics or simply chance, that could show the improvement," D'Agostino said.
"But the fact that in these schools there were gains in all tested grades and subjects makes it hard to argue that these schools did not do something positive to promote student learning in at least the tested subjects."
D'Agostino said standardized testing has its place in gauging a child's educational progress but that by definition a test can only evaluate skills that are relatively easy to measure, such as math or language abilities.
"Obviously you're only seeing half the elephant, not seeing all the other parts that aren't tested, like social studies or foreign language or even social development," he said.
"Most standardized achievement tests tap into achievement in subjects they're testing, and some of it is the aptitude of your child. You can't attribute your child's test scores solely to what the school is doing."
An often-missing link in testing discussions is the role of parents, D'Agostino said.
D'Agostino said you don't have to have a college degree to help your children learn. Even non-academic activities such as trips to the zoo, museums or hiking can help, he said.
"All too often we tend to blame the schools for lower test scores, but evidence shows that they're not the only ones who play a part in a student's test score," he said.
Parents should be cautious of drawing any conclusions from Stanford 9 test scores, said Tom Haladyna, a testing expert and educational psychology professor at Arizona State University-West.
"I don't really think it's going to show anything," Haladyna said of the Star's analysis.
He said the Stanford 9 test is not aligned with state education standards and that no test score alone can adequately measure the quality of a school.
There are many ways, Haladyna said, for schools to "stimulate" test scores - cutting back on the pool of students taking the test, teaching to the test or cheating.
Parents at schools reporting substantial gains should be able to point to specific programs, instruction changes and extra school activities to justify the increases, he said.
Principal Jerry Gallegos of the West Side's Manzo Elementary said his school's double-digit gains over the past four years are valid.
At Manzo, for example, the third-grade reading score climbed 22 points, from 17 in 1997 to 39 this year.
Gallegos credits the success to special reading programs, increased community involvement and retooling instruction methods.
He said his staff focused on improving literacy, creating a 90-minute daily reading and writing session for all pupils.
He said the school librarian, counselor and some school monitors help during the reading blocks.
And he made it clear to students, parents and the staff that he expected better academic performance.
"Higher expectations," Gallegos said. "Once you get that into the kids' heads, it's contagious."
Reporter Hipolito R. Corella can be reached at 573-4191 or corella@azstarnet.com. Contact reporter Sarah Garrecht Gassen at 573-4115 or sgassen@azstarnet.com
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