Posted on 05/17/2007 7:13:29 AM PDT by devane617
FORT WORTH -- Three of every five eighth-graders in the Fort Worth school district failed the science portion of last month's Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills, down from last year's 53 percent passing rate and well behind the state average of 70 percent, according to preliminary scores released Wednesday.
Tenth-graders did not fare much better: Only 41 percent passed the science exam. And 617 seniors in the district -- 16 percent, up from 10 percent last year -- won't graduate on time because they haven't passed all portions of the exit-level TAKS exam.
However, in a bit of good news for the district, students in almost all grades did well on the reading portion of the exam and made some gains in math. In particular, reading scores for fifth-graders increased from 72 percent passing to 82 percent.
Superintendent Melody Johnson said that school officials expected some scores to be lower as the district retools its philosophy from one focused on drilling and practicing for the TAKS to a push for academic rigor.
Meanwhile, the state's accountability standards are rising, meaning the passing standard is higher this year, Johnson said Wednesday.
"I feel very confident that we are doing all the right things," she said.
Still, district officials were surprised by the eighth- and 10th-grade science scores, which Johnson described as an "anomaly."
In a meeting with the Star-Telegram Editorial Board, Johnson said the scores are troubling and could reflect a mismatch between what is being taught in Fort Worth schools and what is on the state exams.
The results could also indicate that students lack the mastery of processes or theories needed to answer science questions.
Students often develop these skills from rigorous lab work instead of memorization, officials said.
"It's not that teachers across the board stopped teaching," Johnson said of the science scores.
This is the second year that eighth-graders take the science test.
The scores won't count toward this year's accountability rating, which the state will announce later in summer, said Sara Arispe, director of assessment and accountability for the Fort Worth school district.
The eighth-grade science test will start counting toward the ratings next year.
Despite the challenges in science and math, Johnson said, the district made significant gains in reading in almost all grades. Johnson said she credits some of these gains to the district's literacy efforts.
Math scores for grades 7, 8, 9 and 11 went up. Tenth-grade math scores went down slightly, from 51 percent passing to 48 percent.
Johnson said the state's increased standards are also why more seniors -- 16 percent -- won't graduate on time this year.
Fort Worth's numbers mirror a state trend: The number of seniors who won't graduate this year because they failed at least one exit-level TAKS exam has reached an all-time high -- more than 40,000 students, or about 16 percent of those who took the tests as juniors last year.
Students can retake the TAKS in upcoming weeks.
Fort Worth seniors who pass by the end of summer can take part in an August graduation ceremony.
Happens when all that's taught is junk science. There are no absolutes in junk science and that makes it difficult for children to grasp.
Listen... If you love your children you will teach them yourself; PERIOD!
And....the parents want these failed students to be able to participate in the commencement ceremonies so they won’t be embarrased.
The state held a forum for science teachers to ask questions to the people who made the test. During the Q/A session, the person from the state got extremely angry, stood up and stormed out, refusing to answer any more questions. The questions? Things such as:
Q:Where did you field test these questions?
A: Elite public schools in the Atlanta area, with 98% graduation rates.
Q: How is that a real cross reference of the entire state? Our county is rural and only about 20% college bound.
A: Uh...NO MORE QUESTIONS!!
Oh, come on, they were just ‘teaching to the test’!
The truth of the matter, the TAKS test are the failure in public schools. Teaching for the test instead of teaching for the student. So many are failing to graduate in our public school system it’s a tragedy. I will get flamed for this but George Bush really screwed up a lot of children here in Texas. TAKS need to be dumped and get back to real teaching.
That's related to the problem. They were teaching to the test, but now that they're trying to go back to real teaching everybody's failing the test.
Such testing is not the cause of student failure. It merely exposes the students who have problems in a given subject. If these tests were not in place, there is no doubt in my mind that the grades in this situation would have been inflated so that the students would have very good GPAs and such.
I agree with you that testing in its current form is not the best solution to this problem, though. But without any testing that is beyond the control of the school, how will we know that the children are learning (or not learning) the subjects being taught?
‘teaching to the test’.......aka Indoctrinating the Young........
ping
Government education, ladies and gentlemen.
district profile
hispanic 55.1%
african American 27.1%
white/anglo 15.9%
A sample of all tests at all grade levels are available on-line. Go to the TEA website. See how many questions the general public would be able to answer.
http://www.tea.state.tx.us/student.assessment/resources/release/taks/index.html
Try it. See how you do.
Looks to me the parents of these failing children need to go back to school too....and learn how to be a REAL PARENT to their children. The idea that a classroom teacher can instill study habits and reading skills WITHOUT 100% parental involvement in the child’s education is just plain stupid. If a kid is failing, put the blame where it belongs 95% of the time.....on the kid and the kid’s parents. If we could fine the parents for having to send the kid through a class again, most of this crap would stop, especially a hefty fine to start with.
Disgraceful. If any business turned out 60% failures in their goods or services, they’d soon be OUT of business.
Instead, the govt forces us to subsidize these puppy mills.
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