TodayMoving quickly to aid students
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Editorial
Article RatingThe Carlisle school board and administration got a nasty jolt this summer when the results of the most recent PSSA tests came in. Because 11th graders failed to meet Adequate Yearly Progress benchmarks, the high school was placed on warning status for all students in math and, in reading, for its Individualized Education Program and economically disadvantaged students.
The resulting plan that has been devised to address those inadequacies is detailed and aggressive, mainly because educators do want to see students succeed, but also because the AYP benchmarks are a moving target, relentlessly climbing upward. Falling a little short today can mean missing the goal by a mile in future years.
This is a challenge schools all over the country are beginning to face. New state-by-state data show more schools failed to meet the federal law’s testing mandates this year than since No Child Left Behind became law in 2002, the New York Times reported last week. In California, about half of the state’s schools failed, in part because of an approach that called for small wins initially and accelerated gains to catch up in the next few years.
Almost half the states opted for that strategy, including Pennsylvania. One professor of education in California likened the situation to that of a homeowner with a balloon-payment mortgage coming due.
The plan Carlisle administrators outlined for the school board Thursday night calls for still more testing than is done currently. That may seem nonsensical, since testing is no substitute for learning and there is still grousing about how teachers are expected to “teach to the test” too much today. But there is sense in this approach.
For one thing, the schools will have a better chance of identifying problem areas while there is still time to correct them. Right now, students are tested in eighth grade and not again until 11th grade. That is a lot of educational ground to navigate without a map and compass to see if you are headed in the right direction. By the time bad news arrives, there’s only one year left to get back on course.
More regular testing also will give students a chance to get used to the tests themselves. It has been suggested that 11th-graders generally don’t take the PSSA seriously enough. We think, rather, that not being comfortable with the tests may prevent some students from doing as well as they are capable.
But that is a minor point. Ultimately, meeting AYP requirements falls back on the teachers, administrators and school board. That’s why the Carlisle plan’s main emphasis will be on instruction – ranging from what goes on in the classroom to tutoring and a more supportive environment for learning basic skills. Changes already in train include having a math tutor on staff, offering “standards” classes in math and reading for students who need more help in those areas and providing student access to Web-based learning tools they can use at school and at home. Work is under way to make the IEP program more challenging as well.
The parts of the plan already in force are showing results, according to administrators, with current testing of 11th graders showing them hitting the proficiency benchmark of 56 percent – though the goal is to score well above that.
Finally, to drive the point home that AYP matters, Carlisle’s administrators put forth the proposal that demonstrating proficiency on the PSSA become a requirement for graduation – in math for 2010 and also reading in 2011.
It certainly would put more conviction into the concept of “No Child Left Behind,” by ensuring that no student could hide behind – or get lost in – a testing group statistic.
This change is one the school board must decide, however, and it is bound to undergo future discussion.
Because of a stumble on a year of testing, Carlisle schools have put themselves under the microscope. There are still a lot of good things going on in the district and many students are achieving.
But by responding quickly and vigorously to the first signs of trouble, the district not only improves its chances of correcting its problems before they become more serious, it may actually identify new opportunities to excel.
