By: Health Insurance
Submitted: 2009-10-09 10:34:36 | Word Count: 1029
For some students, a standardized test is the sole roadblock to a high school diploma.That's one reason the state Department of Education is offering a remediation program to get students, including second-year seniors, extra help before retaking Algebra 1 and English 2 tests. But the program is being offered to so few students that some schools have chosen not to participate.
The program "is a help, but I do think our district has a greater need that we as a district must meet," Canton Public Schools Superintendent Dwight Luckett said.
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The district has used its own remediation efforts for the 87 students who need to retake at least one of the tests.
"We have to do more than what the state department is providing," Luckett said.
Statewide, about 30 percent of first-time test takers failed the Algebra 1 and English 2 tests in the 2007-08 school year and in 2008-09. About 2 percent of those students were able to participate in the Department of Education's program.
The state program was meant to enhance remediation efforts already happening at the district level and offer students help from a new person in a new environment, said Kris Kaase, deputy superintendent of instruction and curriculum at the Department of Education.
"For some students, this is all that will hold them back," Kaase said about the tests. "We want to give them more opportunities to be successful."
The state and school districts are still under pressure to boost achievement and graduation rates, as students and educators try to adjust to more rigorous curricula and tests.
Each state session was limited to about 20 students in three, two-hour sessions, per subject, per day. About 600 students participated from Sept. 1-10 - two weeks before they retook the tests. About 12 more sessions will be held by the end of the year.
The Department of Education does not have data on whether students who have participated in past remediation sessions ultimately passed the tests. But the department has gotten positive feedback, Kaase said.The sessions were "excellent," said Steve Montgomery, superintendent of West Point schools. He said he sat in on the recent sessions to see how they differed from the remediation offered in his district.
"My students told me they really felt like they understood more on how to pass the test," he said.
The remediation sessions aren't just about test-taking skills, though, Kaase said. They also emphasize higher order thinking skills. Students must recall information they're taught and apply that knowledge in different ways.
The Algebra 1 and English 2 tests reflect a statewide effort to ensure Mississippi students can compete academically with other students across the country.
Most students take those tests by their sophomore year. If a student fails the standardized tests, there are several retesting opportunities throughout the year.
School districts put time and resources into tutoring throughout the day and give students practice tests to prepare for the real thing. But there is a disconnect between what's taught in the classroom and what students see on state tests.
In Hinds County, 131 students failed the English 2 exam and 188 failed the Algebra 1 exam last spring, district spokesman James Mason said in an e-mail. Some of those students, 14, attended the state remediation sessions.
Students who do not pass the tests receive 30 minutes of remediation each morning at Hinds County schools. Teachers also review students about three weeks before the test and give them related work they can do at home, Mason said.
In Rankin County, Florence High was the only school to send any students to the state's session, said Mariella Simons, director of instruction.
"Most of our other schools felt like the plans that they already had made and set in motion were sufficient because they were using teachers within the building who already knew the students and exactly what they needed," Simons said.
The district has purchased software that prepares students for tests and includes games, she saidRankin County students who fail any of the subject area tests also receive tutoring from a teacher before and after school, and sometimes during homeroom, Simons said.The group sizes are small enough that students can ask questions and get one-on-one attention.
Montgomery said the West Point district has hired interventionists in different subject areas, and students are pulled from class for extra help. It also pays to train teachers and staff to help students pass the tests, he said.
But Montgomery is also thinking about using one of the presenters from the state remediation sessions to teach his students the tools they need to pass.
During the state's session, he saw students being taught how to use a graphing calculator - something they need to use on the test. Teachers in his district have taught students to answer math questions manually, he said.
Luckett said the Canton district needs $60,000 to employ part-time tutors to help students who are behind a grade level.
Its success last year in getting four of its seven schools out of improvement status for low performance has cost it funding.
While in improvement, the district received more money for tutoring and other remediation, Luckett said.
Now it must find ways to maintain academic success with less money while absorbing a 5 percent cut in state funding.
Superintendents say it will be difficult to continue to help students with less money.
Notes Montgomery: The state "cut our budget, but they haven't backed off any of the demands for the state testing."
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