Test scores 'remarkable' considering English learners - FUESD, FUHSD, Bonsall on track

Carol Jones faces her class of fourth-graders. She sees Manuel in the back row jump up to poke a pencil at Jose, who sits beside him. Across the room, the new kid, Romero, watches, then grins in delight. Jordan, whose mother refuses to medicate her autistic son, is sitting front and center, idly flipping the pages of a science book, his district-appointed educational aide beside him. Lynny, with black circles under her eyes, touches the cast on her arm. Her dark hair is matted and dull.

“Listen up — tomorrow is the STAR test and I cannot help you,” Jones emphasizes. “I can’t, because if I do, I’ll lose my job.” At that, all 32 students get her attention — except for Manuel and Jose, both English Learners Two, and Romero, who looks at her blankly. A Mexican immigrant, he just entered school and knows no English, nor did he attend school in Mexico. Tomorrow he’ll be classified as an English Learner One. A beginner. In fourth grade. Five other Hispanic students in Jones’ class are English learners, too.

“And one more thing,” Jones says, “for you kids who don’t eat here at school, have a good breakfast. Protein. Eat. You can’t learn when your brain is hungry.” Jones knows too few will follow her directions. Although Carol Jones’ classroom only exists in statistics, the results of its testing scores make news. Not for their positive growth, but for the way they can be viewed as negative. Outside the classroom, other factors influence scores. Factors that are less easy to manage. Poverty, or socioeconomic disadvantage; learning and physical disabilities; cultural bias; and worse, for schools in Fallbrook: English comprehension.

Twenty-five percent of students enrolled in Fallbrook schools are English learners. Even though they are receiving instruction in language arts, this lack of knowledge affects their ability to learn in any subject. Consider the text in a history book; word problems in a math workbook; directions and explanations that direct simple tasks. If a student can’t speak, read or write English, it’s as if every bit of knowledge is weighted by confusion. The state says five years is enough for a child to be proficient in English, but Janice Schultz disagrees. “It’s more like seven,” she says. She should know. She faces the students who create the statistics each day in her job as Superintendent of the Fallbrook Elementary School District. Even when children enter kindergarten to begin their formal English language training, the ones who come from other-language households start with a disadvantage.

Regardless of the difficulties that teachers face in the classrooms, students must be tested.

In 1999 the California Department of Education began tallying the small bits of knowledge kids in public schools retained, by testing them on a simple level. Then in 2001 when the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act was signed, the testing expanded and students throughout California began to squirm in their chairs even more, while teachers, school boards and parents started pointing fingers at each other as the results were tallied.

So, who is responsible for test scores?

Everyone and no one. It’s complicated. It’s the teacher’s fault. No, it’s the school board’s fault. No, parents are to blame. How about the students? While the debate raged, scores slowly climbed. In 2006, instead of one test as in 1999, students took four tests over a period of two weeks. Now called the California Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) test, it measures English language, mathematics and a host of other subjects students are exposed to as they matriculate from second grade through 11th grade.

The annual STAR testing takes place over several days. All students participate in the English-language arts section; grades two through nine also test in mathematics; grades five, eight and 10 have science added. Students who complete class work in algebra 1, geometry, algebra 2 or integrated mathematics 1, 2 or 3 in grades eight through 11 are tested in those subjects, and students who did not complete one of these courses are tested in general mathematics. To complete the math testing component, students in grades nine and 10 who completed algebra 2 or integrated mathematics 3 during the previous grade and grade 11 students who completed algebra 2 or integrated

mathematics 3 anytime before 2006 testing began, including students taking higher mathematics or no mathematics courses, are given a Summative High School Mathematics test. Students in grades eight, 10 and 11 are tested in history-social science; and grade nine through 11 in earth science, biology, chemistry, physics or integrated/coordinated science 1, 2, 3 or 4.

Dissecting the annual scores has become a monumental task for educators, administrators and parents as they strive to find ways to improve them based on federal guidelines. And if that isn’t enough, when given the opportunity to set its own benchmark, California set a high one. For example, in 2006, 24.4 percent of all kids enrolled in public schools (not private) must achieve “proficiency” in English-language arts as determined by the NCLB guidelines. As a district the Fallbrook elementary schools are there. Yet individual schools can fall below.

For instance, Potter Junior High School scored at 24.3 percent — which may have been the result of one or two questions answered incorrectly by a single student. That incident placed Potter in the “Program Improvement” category, which gives parents an opportunity to place their children in other schools. In 2008 the percentage climbs to 35, and educators are concerned. Even though children taught under guidelines established by NCLB beginning in second grade will have aged up, there’s no guarantee the immigration of students from other states who enroll in California schools will meet its standards because of the high benchmark.

“The data picture is becoming more complex,” says Ruth Hellams, Assistant Superintendent at the Fallbrook Union High School District (FUHSD). To make an adequate comparison of Fallbrook student progress since NCLB went into affect in 2001, it might seem easy to compare changes year to year, but it’s impossible. Not only did the testing criteria change from its inception, the data gathering methods differ, too. It is important to know how Fallbrook fares, however. But, the picture isn’t bleak.

Pat McCabe, Director of the Policy and Evaluation Division, California Department of Education, says, “The Parent Education Index is by far the best predictor of a school’s performance.” This data reflects the education of a student’s parents and is collected from students during a testing period. According to Fallbrook children, 20 percent of their parents have a college or higher level education, while 36 percent have only a high school diploma.

“The Fallbrook Union High School District average <Academic Performance Index> API of 683 is slightly above 679, which is the state average API for all high schools. The performance is remarkable when one considers that the percent of students in the district whose parents did not have a high school diploma was almost twice the state average, and the statewide percent of students whose parents had a college degree was 50 percent higher than the Fallbrook’s percent. I’m very surprised they’re scoring this high,” McCabe says. The API for the Fallbrook elementary school district was 773, showing a three-point growth over 2005. Six out of ten Fallbrook public schools met their growth targets, as did two of the three schools measured in the Bonsall Union School District. Based on this, it seems in spite of their advantages and disadvantages, Fallbrook public school students are doing well.

Besides student-oriented factors, what else influences scores? Some say scores dip or soar depending on the decisions of the school board; that choosing materials, adding or subtracting elective classes is their call. While elementary schools must adhere to state guidelines on material adoption, school boards can have jurisdiction over high school graduation requirements, which affects performance, says McCabe.

Not so in Fallbrook. For example, the FUHSD Board signs off on materials chosen by its teachers as well as changes in curriculum that provide more class choices. In the high school district teachers recommend materials from the state approved list, and “the board always adopts their recommendations then budgets to implement them,” says Tom Anthony, Superintendent of the Fallbrook Union High School District. The district board’s responsibility is to set policy and make sure “I’m doing what I’m supposed to,” Anthony adds.

Further, a committee comprised of teachers, counselors and community members advise on adding classes to enrich elective choice, allow remediation or provide specific class work for college prep, which in some cases raises graduation requirements. For example, the class of 2006 needed both algebra and geometry to graduate, an increase from 220 to 230 credits. Fallbrook Union High School leads all schools in the county for numbers of electives offered.

Where do teachers figure into the score debate? Assuming teacher Jones instructs a classroom of 32 fourth-graders, in which at least eight need language and other types of special help, she also must convey their progress to parents who may not understand what she says. Luckily for the parents of students in the Fallbrook Elementary School District, many teachers speak English and Spanish. In fact, “The number is 47, or about 12 percent of our staff,” says Janice Schultz. In addition, 100 percent of their regular classroom teachers are certified to teach English Language Development. The elementary district also has a bilingual community liaison at each site and many school secretaries and clerks are bilingual. Five of their eight principals are also bilingual, Schultz adds.

At Fallbrook Union High School educators discovered incoming “students were learning in a different manner,” says Assistant Superintendent Jim Yahr. “They’re coming to us having experienced a different atmosphere.” He says students used to be more compliant, but now they relate more to teachers who use tactics they’re familiar with, such as PowerPoint presentations, the Internet and other teaching methods that reach students verbally, visually and kinesthetically. Student aptitude improves due to technology, Yahr suggests. When they reach high school, because of these resources, they are “less tolerant when their immediate needs aren’t being met.” To meet these needs, the high school district offers its teachers a program that enables them to acquire new teaching methods to accommodate the technologically advanced students. About half the teachers have completed the program, Yahr says.

Other allegations claim feeder elementary schools in the Fallbrook district don’t prepare their graduates for the rigors of high school. Students are prepared for the most part, says Anthony. Moreover, teachers at FUHS work with their counterparts at Potter Junior High School and Sullivan Middle School in Bonsall to align educational expectations. For example, their algebra benchmark entry test is identical. Further, Anthony says a group of senior students visit the middle schools to tell students how important their achievements in high school must be. This is a result of younger students wanting to know how the STAR tests affect them. “They personally want to know what it means,” Yahr adds.

All of this in a district that has the third largest migrant population in the county.

So, Fallbrook school boards support recommendations of their teachers to improve education. Teachers are instructing along state mandated guidelines and learning new ways to reach their pupils. And, students who might be English learners and poor, and who come from backgrounds not heavily influenced by education are moving ahead.

“In 2003 our API was 663,” says Anthony. “We’re closing the gap.”

Finally, if all things go as planned in Fallbrook, by 2014 when NCLB says all students must test at 100 percent proficiency, Carol Jones will face a group of 32 fourth-graders assured their STAR test will meet its objective.