How Do Students Do on Standardtized Tests With Low Reading Scores

Boosting Examination Scores: "Main" Strategies That Work

Raising test scores is a goal at the elevation of all principals' lists. It'due south a task that requires focus and a multi-pronged approach. In this article, Ed World'due south "Primary Files" squad shares strategies that have helped them heave sagging scores -- strategies that could piece of work for you likewise.

Did your students' examination scores rise concluding year? If you're like many of our Main Files team members, you lot've witnessed an increment in scores over the by several years. Seldom is it past chance that those scores have risen; information technology's the effect of a concerted endeavor by an entire staff -- an effort that is very likely to include extensive information analysis, focused teacher training, frequent monitoring of pupil progress, practice testing throughout the twelvemonth, student and staff incentives, and other strategies.

"Our scores have gone up in each of the terminal five years," said principal Michael Miller of Saturn Elementary School in Cocoa, Florida. "In our country, schools are graded from F to A, and we have been in the A category for the by iii years."

That'due south a commendable accomplishment given the school'southward diverse population and a mobility rate as high as 45 percent.

Miller is quick to point out that the increase in scores is the result of a district-wide focus. "I am responsible to my area superintendent to attain a 'chief'southward checklist' of goals. One of those responsibilities is to run into, along with my assistant principal, with each of my Level i's [students scoring at the lower levels on the country tests] and their parents to discuss test scores and the importance of raising those scores. We talk nearly the school's responsibility for raising the students' examination scores and how the parents tin support that effort.

"That personal attention is a very good idea because, many times, students and parents don't sympathize how close they are to the next level until we point information technology out."

The district's extra attending to exam results has paid off substantially. Today, all just two of the district'south nearly 100 schools are classified as A or B by the state, he said.

When searching for means to heave pupil accomplishment, teachers at Sacred Middle/St. Isadore Regional Grammar School in Vineland, New Jersey, uncovered some interesting research findings. Among the dissever research studies they found were those that documented improved test scores when students
--- ate plenty of sweets the calendar week before testing,
--- remained well hydrated during testing, and
--- chewed gum during testing.
"A few teachers employed all three findings, just most drew the line at chewing gum," said principal Patrice DeMartino.

In addition, based on research most the alertness levels of students, "we prepare upwards our testing schedule so the younger students test in the early morning while our upper and eye grades' students tested later in the morning," DeMartino added.

"All of the teachers on our staff have been fully trained in how to look at their class's examination scores," Miller told Didactics World. "They are able to identify their students' specific strengths and weaknesses. The teachers know where they need to concentrate their attention.

"Equally they focus on analyzing their class'southward scores, I exercise the same thing for the school as a whole. I look at each form, then at the unabridged schoolhouse, to check for patterns. I concentrate my attending on developing new strategies and methods -- and arranging preparation and obtaining materials -- needed to meliorate those specific areas."

Sue Astley also sets aside fourth dimension for teachers in her school to analyze their students' test results. The goal of that do is twofold: to place areas of the curriculum that need to be improved and to identify the strong and weak students in each class.

"We are trying to move abroad from the smile-and-file mode of testing -- the fashion in which we get back test results, smile as we share the results with parents, then file abroad the results and never look at them again," said Astley, banana headmaster and elementary principal at St. Martin's Episcopal Schoolhouse, a private Pre-Thou to eight school in Atlanta, Georgia.

"We are as well trying to get away from the perception that we're evaluating teachers based on student scores. Equally we all know, at that place are many variables in the testing equation. While we want scores to improve from yr to yr, we're more interested in what they tell united states almost our curriculum and teaching."

At St. Martin's, the data analysis effort is carried out completely in-business firm with the aid of 1 classroom teacher who carries a lighter educational activity load and spends the residuum of her time working with and supporting teachers as they gather data from examination scores. That "testing teacher" has created a special work sheet that helps teachers analyze their data, said Astley.

At Silver Sands Centre School in Port Orangish, Florida, master Les Potter has led his school's focus on building literacy and test scores. "A state literacy grant has enabled us to present numerous in-services focused on reading in the content areas," said Potter. "Additionally, we identified our lowest readers and nosotros provide them with intensive reading classes. We provide after-school tutoring, food, and transportation for students. And we held our starting time literacy fair.

"Those efforts are fully supported by our schoolhouse's advisory committee of parents and teachers and our school PTSA," added Potter. "Our parents have defended time and money to assist with our reading initiatives."

Principal Marguerite McNeely helped steer test results on an upward slope at Alexandria Magnet Center Schoolhouse in Alexandria, Louisiana. "Test scores went up equally a result of some commonsense things we did," McNeely told Education World.

--- Class size. Grant money was used to rent 2 extra teachers to target students who had weak scores.
--- After-schoolhouse tutoring. Another grant provided the money.
--- Afterward-school team meetings. Teachers across the curriculum were paid a stipend to participate in the additional meetings.
--- Curriculum connections. The entire school worked to enhance math and language arts skills.
--- Rewards and incentives. Student and teacher accomplishments are regularly recognized. Students receive pins and a special breakfast for proficient grades; incentives for teachers include everything from plaques to notes posted on classroom doors and candy bars in mailboxes.

"I would say the greatest catalyst is our constant effort to remind and convince staff and the pupil body that we can do this!" said McNeely. "The staff and students feel a sense of achievement now, and next twelvemonth should be even ameliorate."

In Lancaster, Ohio, master Paul Young has used a state access grant to bring aboard two adept consultants who work in classrooms with teachers to identify and assist "chimera" students. "'Bubble' is the term we use for kids who announced to score right at the minimum level," explained Young, who is principal at West Unproblematic School. "With one or ii more correctly bubbled answers, those students would achieve a proficient score."

Bringing aboard the consultants has proved successful. "Having a fresh set of optics and ideas -- and having an outsider reiterate the things the principal, supervisors, and master teachers have been saying -- is valuable," said Young.

"Our regular staff meetings typically have agenda items related to test scores, and our Intervention Aid Squad (IAT) meets weekly," added Young. "That team shares the responsibility for success of nearly 20 percent of our student population. They develop intervention plans to meet the academic, behavioral, emotional, and social needs of students -- particularly those students at adventure of failure in the regular classroom and on high-stakes tests."

Mary Smith doubles equally principal and superintendent of the One thousand-eight Whitebead Schoolhouse in Pauls Valley, Oklahoma. There, a population in flux -- in x years, the Hispanic population that has grown from 4 percent of the district's students to 25 percent -- has created special challenges. "An intervention program developed by staff and parents places money and emphasis on kindergarten and first class intervention in an attempt to exist proactive rather than reactive in our approach," said Smith. "All K and first class students identified receive 30 minutes a day of 1-to-one intervention focused on readiness."

The program doesn't end there. Identified second through 5th graders receive 45 minutes of small-group language arts instruction five times a week. Not-English-speaking "newcomers" get a double dose of small-group language arts instruction.

"School improvement is an evolving process that takes ongoing monitoring and constant input," said Smith, who meets weekly with the five teams that comprise her staff. "A special computer-based program enables me to pull up records of whatsoever student or classroom to monitor their progress."

At St. Martin'due south Episcopal, once the analysis is complete, principal Sue Astley and the school's testing teacher meet monthly with staff members to talk about strategies for improving instruction for the whole form and for individual students.

Similarly, Michael Miller meets with Saturn Elementary's teachers on a regular basis to nautical chart progress of those students whose test results are below the level of acceptance. "Our teachers know they need to come up with ways to increase the scores of the bottom 25 percent of students," explained Miller. "Teachers conference with me on a regular footing near those students, all of whom are on academic improvement plans that offer specific strategies for comeback."

In add-on, parents are intimately involved in their children's improvement plans. "Teachers are required to run into with students' parents, and parents are required to sign the plans," added Miller.

At Doctors Inlet Elementary School in Middleburg, Florida, chief Larry Davis meets monthly with representatives of each grade level. "Those meetings are designed so we tin talk about private students and how to assist them with learning," explained Davis. "In improver, teachers of each grade level turn in monthly minutes that reflect their team discussions of pupil data."

At Cedar Creek Schoolhouse in Ruston, Louisiana, curriculum coordinator Marilyn Koepke has spearheaded a comprehensive staff evolution effort in the expanse of writing across the curriculum. A consultant introduced a serial of instructional strategies, and teachers implemented those strategies between sessions. "At each subsequent in-service, teachers were expected to share student piece of work in small-scale groups and hash out their experiences with implementation," explained Koepke.

Grouping discussions of students' work took identify in K-2, three-5, half dozen-eight, and ix-12 teams. The groups discussed and shared samples of work related to strategies. They shared individual student success stories; they also shared their frustrations and skepticism about the value of some strategies.

"Those discussions were an opportunity for teachers to learn from one another, to inquire questions, and, mostly speaking, to contribute to a professional dialogue," observed Koepke. "The main benefit for our teachers, I believe, is that it has made them eager to dialog among themselves and larn from each other -- fifty-fifty without a consultant present. Doing that has helped to begin to turn usa into what Richard DuFour calls a 'professional learning community'."

And as the conversation continues, the exam scores creep up. In the past three years, average Human activity scores at Cedar Creek have increased more 2 percent points. The average Stanford 9 score increased from lxxx.6 percent to 81.viii.

Just as data assay and progress monitoring are ongoing ventures, then too is do testing in many schools. "Nosotros purchased do materials for improving examination scores for reading, math, and language arts," Sacred Centre'southward Patrice DeMartino told Education World. "Teachers are asked to make apply of those materials about in one case a calendar week. We also fix up an after-schoolhouse program where students and a teacher work with the materials.

"We all agree having the do-testing materials helps put students more than at ease with testing," added DeMartino.

The aforementioned is true at Doctors Inlet Elementary. Exercise tests are used at that place with ESE (exceptional/below level) students each month, said principal Larry Davis.

At Calgary Academy in Calgary, Alberta (Canada), copies of previous exams are available for teachers to utilise with students. While teachers there make good utilize of those tests, "nosotros focus more on the process skills behind the tests than on the tests themselves," said principal Kim McLean. For case, to better reading comprehension teachers of all subjects read stories throughout the year and ask questions based on the levels of thinking in Bloom's taxonomy.

"If students learn how to reply questions and to remember on different levels, and so information technology doesn't matter what is on the examination," added McLean. "Those skills are transferable to all testing situations."

Non too many years ago, when Jim DeGenova was an elementary-level master, he had a teacher transfer into his building. That instructor had taught centre school for most of his career, but he was taking on a fourth-grade course in DeGenova's building. "A proficiency test was to be given to all 4th graders that year, and the new teacher'due south class was expected to be the worst of the seven fourth form classes," explained DeGenova, assistant main at Slippery Rock (Pennsylvania) High Schoolhouse.

That instructor approached DeGenova with an old SRA reading kit and asked if he could apply it. He saw the repetitive drill and the format of the kit'southward exercises as a tool for raising scores. "Since nosotros had been consistently the everyman-scoring edifice, 'why not' was my answer," said DeGenova. "I cleared information technology with the commune role.

"Due to the enormous corporeality of drill in the programme, the instructor took a not bad deal of criticism. And so did I. Yet, at the end of the twelvemonth, the test results indicated tremendous gains in our building. We finished in 2d place in the district by less that one signal. Similar results followed the next year."

DeGenova learned a valuable lesson that yr: "It is non a new law, method, or technological advance that creates success. Good teaching is only good teaching; and that is what motivates students to improve. Practiced, old-fashioned, hard work on the part of the teacher, student, and parents motivates students to attain higher and achieve success."

• Sue W. Astley, banana headmaster and elementary principal, St. Martin's Episcopal School, Atlanta, Georgia
• Larry Davis, primary, Doctors Inlet Elementary Schoolhouse, Middleburg, Florida
• Jim DeGenova, assistant principal, Glace Rock Area Loftier Schoolhouse, Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania; also part-time uncomplicated principal Har-Mer Elementary, Harrisville, Pennsylvania
• Patrice DeMartino, main, Sacred Heart/St. Isidore Regional Grammar Schoolhouse, Vineland, New Bailiwick of jersey
• Marilyn Koepke, curriculum coordinator, Cedar Creek School, Ruston, Louisiana
• Kim McLean, principal, Calgary Academy, Calgary, Alberta (Canada)
• Marguerite McNeely, primary, Alexandria Magnet Centre School for Math and Science, Alexandria, Louisiana
• Michael D. Miller, principal, Saturn Elementary School, Cocoa, Florida
• Dr. Les Potter, principal, Silver Sands Middle School, Port Orange, Florida
• Mary Smith, chief, Whitebead Elementary Schoolhouse, Pauls Valley, Oklahoma
• Paul Young, principal, West Simple School, Lancaster, Ohio (past-president, NAESP, 2002-2003)

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