Details of Test Findings
Sept. 19, 2000
New test results show even though students in Salt Lake City have improved, about a third of them still can't read or write at competent levels.
Education Specialist Nadine Wimmer reports there is some concern, but educators say they'd be even more concerned if they didn't have these test scores.
At least this way, educators know how to help students before it's too late.
Test results in the Salt Lake City School District show a lot of teachers are working on the writing process.
And even though some reading scores increased by
as much as 20 percent, there's still much to be done.
Joan Reynolds/SL School District: "IT CONCERNED ME A LITTLE TO SEE THAT APPROXIMATELY A THIRD OF THE KIDS ARE NOT ABLE TO WRITE A COMPETENT ESSAY."
That's right, one-third of 8th and 9th graders cannot write competent essays and
one-third of 7th and 8th graders do not understand the text they read.
Judy Fuchs/English Teacher: "I THINK THE BIGGEST PROBLEM IN READING IS KIDS AREN'T READING OUTSIDE OF SCHOOL VERY MUCH, AND I DON'T THINK WE'VE LET THEM READ IN SCHOOL AS MUCH AS WE SHOULD EITHER."
Nadine Wimmer, Education Specialist: "YOU'VE SEEN THE STANDARDIZED BUBBLE TESTS. MOST STUDENTS TAKE THEM. BUT THE SALT LAKE DISTRICT GIVES AN EXTRA READING AND WRITING TEST, BECAUSE THEY REALLY WANT TO ASSESS STUDENTS' ABILITIES."
"IF YOU DON'T CATCH KIDS, THEY'RE GOING TO GRADUATE AND NOT BE VERY LITERATE ADULTS IS WHAT I THINK."
So perhaps one of the most positive things to come of the tests is now teachers will know where students need extra work, and can shape their lessons accordingly.
Educators say clearly, middle school students need to focus on sentence structure, to better express themselves.
And students will have to improve their efforts in reading.
"BUT THEY NEED TO BE DOING MORE THAN JUST LOOKING AT THE WORDS, THEY NEED TO TALK ABOUT WHAT THEY'RE READING."
The tests are part of the growing effort to make sure students are learning what they're supposed to before they move on to the next level.
These students will be tested on reading and writing again in high school.
Some Details of Test Findings
- This year, a greater percentage of 8th grade students scored at a confident level of understanding in reading; the percentage was up 9%. In writing the percentage of 8th grade scores above competent essay improved by 8%.
- The 9th grade performance task scores also showed great improvement from the previous year, with 23% more students scoring at a level of confident understanding in reading and 20% more scoring at a level of competent writing.
- 7th grade: 38% of the students did not adequately organize the ideas in their papers; 33% did not use adequate conventions or sentence structure.
- 8th grade: 30% of students did not show confident understanding of text; 33% did not write competent essays.
- 9th grade: 22% of students did not demonstrate confident understanding of text; 29% did not write competent essays.
Performance assessments in the secondary schools were scored during late April and early May. The reading/writing performance tasks were administered in grades 8 and 9 as well as writing assessments in grades 7 and 10. The seventh grade assessment was analytic writing, where the district looks at different aspects of the student essay. The tenth grade assessment was holistic, a competency that students must pass in order to graduate.
Link to Salt Lake School District
