 |
 |
 |
|
Practice makes perfect in effort to raise scores
"Miss Morrison, Miss Morrison, I got a 95!" screams out Tana Dania, waving his handheld computer in the air. The fifth-graders around the table compare their own scores, either whooping with delight or groaning at anything under 90 percent.
It's Brainchild computers rather than Game Boy that has the children fired up in the classroom at Costano Elementary School in East Palo Alto. While Dania tests his language arts skills, others work on math problems. The children push buttons to answer multiple-choice questions in each subject, and are told to proceed to the next level when they have gained 90 percent mastery. The machines have an "explain" button for those who need help with wrong answers.
"Make sure you know why you made those mistakes," says teacher Oretha Morrison, a member of the Ravenswood District Teachers Association (RDTA). "If the 'explain' button doesn't answer your question, come and see me."
Morrison moves back and forth between students' workstations. Some groups of students practice reading aloud from books. Others test each other on reading comprehension and math skills. While the activities vary, the students share a common goal.
 Oretha Morrison's fifth grade class at Costano Elementary in East Palo Alto.
"We are all getting ready for the SAT-9," explains Dania. "Doing this stuff makes me feel more ready. With practice, we'll do much better."
It's only October, but clearly the spring standardized testing is on everyone's mind. On Wednesday, otherwise known as "Wiseness Day" at Costano, students review what they have learned in class and sharpen their test-taking skills. The minimum day ends at 1:10, so teachers have time for collaboration, professional development or planning sessions.
The strategies employed at Costano, a K-8 school, may be wise indeed. Students, most of them minority and disadvantaged, have gone from 609 to 751 on the API. They increased test scores by a whopping 142 points, far beyond their growth target of 10 points.
Every morning students begin the day with a 15-minute assembly. After pledging allegiance and singing the National Anthem, students recite in unison: "I believe I can learn. I know I can learn. I will learn." While Costano is not an II/USP school, there was still tremendous pressure to increase student performance, say teachers. Even so, most teachers were amazed at how much improvement the test scores showed.
"I knew we were working hard, but I was shocked," says Morrison. "Oh boy, was I happy to see this!"
RDTA member Beneva Moultrie believes a combination of pre-testing and motivating students is responsible for surging scores. "We do a lot of drilling and practice, but we also emphasize the importance of the test," she says. "We tell them it is very important to the school."
In addition to adopting the phonics-based Open Court reading series, teachers have worked hard to incorporate the state standards into curriculum. Parents are given copies of the standards and encouraged to take an active role in their child's education. Last year Saturday school was offered. Now there's a peer-tutoring program and a homework center. Good behavior and attendance are rewarded with stars and certificates. Students wear uniforms. And field trips were not scheduled from February until after the test was given.
"We have a lot of pride here at Costano,"says Moultrie. "It's a good feeling."
Schools that showed dramatic improvement on the API shared some common strategies with Costano, with emphasis on test practice, student buy-in, parental involvement and incorporation of state standards into curriculum. Along with higher scores, these items translate into lots of extra work for teachers. Sometimes it means cutting out the "fun" things like music and art. Staff at schools that showed tremendous growth point to the API scores as proof that all children can learn, if there are high expectations and rigorous curriculum.
"Our staff decided that every child can learn, and our job is to have those expectations,"says Lana Weatherly, a reading specialist at Lincoln Elementary, and a member of the Exeter Teachers Association. "The key was to expect that each child can learn, and for us to do our part in effective teaching. It was a big philosophical change."
Before, teachers at the Tulare County school often made excuses for some of the kids, says Weatherly. "I hate to say it, but it was a natural thing to do."
The school reported the highest increase in the state, jumping 189 points on the API, from 504 to 693. However, because the school is a K-2 school, only second-graders were judged on test scores.
Lincoln Elementary School, in the second year of the II/USP, changed many of the ways it traditionally did business. Teachers now provide pullout programs for every child who's performing below grade level. Students receive extra help in English, whether they are proficient in English or not. English language learners are now integrated into mainstream classrooms. An after-school program provides intensive help for English language learners.
Despite the huge point increase, teachers aren't celebrating yet, says Weatherly. "We're still sobered by the fact we have a long way to go. We're still off the mark from the 800 goal. But we're pleased to be heading in the right direction."
Teachers at Webster Elementary School in Fresno say they have been heading in the right direction for a few years, even though it seems like they have suddenly attained success. The site raised test scores by 105 points, going from 408 to 513 on the API. Most of the students are poor and either Hispanic or Hmong.
 Tana Dania reports on how his handheld computer helps him prepare for the standardized achievement test.
Four years ago, the inner-city school implemented strategies to boost student achievement, and Webster's II/USP status only helped make the ball roll faster. Teachers began analyzing data to see where students needed to improve and filled in the gaps. Students attended school on Saturday. Standards were incorporated into the curriculum and teachers were given plenty of planning time to meet at grade levels and across grade levels. The Reading Recovery program was implemented schoolwide.
Friday is now known as "show-me-what-you-learned" day because that's the day teachers assess students on what they have learned during the week. Fresno Teachers Association members at Webster now inform students of their progress on a regular basis.
"Conferencing with the students has made a big difference,"says Cindy Casey, a first-grade teacher. "Letting the students know what they need to do to improve has helped their ability to keep going. It's important for kids to know where they are."
"Our school improvement plan has been a lot of hard work and time management,"says Mollie Mendoza, a third-grade teacher in a structured English-immersion class. "It has been very challenging, because usually 80 percent of my class is below grade level. But I have high expectations, work them hard and get results."
To increase parental involvement, the Block W program was started. Webster parents receive points for coming to back-to-school night, helping in the library or the classroom, and getting involved in other ways. At the end of last year, parents with the highest numbers of points were taken sightseeing in San Francisco.
 Beneva Moultrie at Costano Elementary School listens to a third-grader as he reads out loud.
There were sacrifices along the way. The school received a curriculum waiver from the state in science and social studies, but tries to integrate both subjects into literacy lessons.
Literacy comprehension is highly emphasized at Webster. On a recent visit, a fourth-fifth combination class read library books, then was asked by teacher Reid Brockett to discuss the subject matter in detail.
"Does the boy in your book have a name?" Brockett asked one student. "There is a grandma in the book. Whose grandma is she?"
In the past, it was assumed that if students could read, they also comprehended the material, says Brockett, whose students range from first-grade to fifth-grade reading levels. "Now we know better," he says. "English language learners may read words and decode them, but have very little comprehension. It takes so much concentration to read the words that they are not always focused on the meaning. Now we constantly make sure they know what they are reading about."
Once singled out as "underperforming," Webster now receives attention for its improvement. Students wearing school T-shirts on a field trip were congratulated everywhere they went.
"We heard we were the best one," says Brian Hernandez, a fourth-grader.
"That's because we're smart," chimes in Luisa Ramirez.
"No," says Jesus Ornelez. "We're smart, but we also practice hard."
In Montebello, test preparation is credited with raising test scores by 156 points at Bandini Elementary.
"All of the elementary schools worked with a consultant and came up with a series of quizzes that replicate the experience of taking the test," says Robin Ponce-Edgington, a member of the Montebello Teachers Association. "Kids got used to the format and learned test-taking strategies. We even had a big pep rally with cheerleaders from the high school to get them excited about the test."
Despite the fact that nearly 60 percent of the school's teachers are on emergency credentials, teachers were able to align curriculum to standards and pull together as a team. Art and music were canceled, along with student performances. But the sacrifices seem to be worth it, says Ponce-Edgington.
"Everybody knows about our high scores. People say, 'What did you guys do at little Bandini?' It's kind of nice to be famous."
High school test scores did not increase at nearly the same rate as elementary and middle schools. However, at Loara High School in Anaheim, scores went up 87 points, bringing students from 557 to 644 on the API.
Norelynn Pion-Goureau, a member of the Anaheim Secondary Teachers Association, says it's harder to motivate older students to do well on standardized tests because the scores don't count on their report cards.
"Their attitude was, 'Why care?' and we decided we would try to get them to take the test very seriously," says Pion-Goureau. "We talked about it all year long to get a good attitude going. We said, 'This is for all of us. We need to show everyone what a good school we have, and the fact that we are a minority school doesn't mean we can't achieve.' We appealed to their sense of pride."
The kids rose to the challenge. "They are very pleased with themselves," says Pion-Goureau. "The Hispanic kids really brought up their scores, and they were the ones some people assumed would be our excuse for not scoring well.
"One group that did not bring up their scores the way we expected was the honors kids," she adds. "This just goes to show that you can't use minority kids as an excuse. It wasn't our honors kids who brought us to glory. It was our Latino kids, many of whom are learning English. I am very proud of them."
 |