By Judy Rattner
New York state, Johnson explains, uses test scores to evaluate and compare schools and districts. Rockville Centre uses the results to target students who might need help in the long term with skills necessary to pass five state Regents exams with scores of 65 or above - the requirement for a Regents diploma. The district currently has a Regents diploma graduation rate of between 95 and 98 percent.
Johnson said that Rockville Centre's students did "reasonably well" on the 2005-06 math and English Language Arts tests, but he added that he was disappointed in the eighth grade ELA results, a 75 percent passing rate. But those numbers, he said, do not necessarily reflect how well the students knew the subjects in which they were tested. Many students who did not do particularly well on the ELA, he explained, did much better on science and math tests that have reading components, with a passing rate of over 90 percent. He speculated that there might be a problem with the eighth grade ELA test, and has joined other administrators in asking the state for technical supporting data on its validity and reliability.
Scores in fourth grade tests, Johnson said, are a much better indicator of what students will do in later years.
Although the district now administers tests in grades 3 through 8, as mandated by the federal No Child Left Behind Act, Johnson said he doesn't believe students need to be tested every year. He explained that district teachers have become very good at identifying problems before students finish kindergarten. "We're getting better at it, and in training teachers in providing help," he said. The district assists these students with specialized reading, writing and math programs.
Test preparation, Johnson said, needs to be targeted to a select group of children, and it needs to take place outside the school day, in early-morning or afternoon programs. "We try to hit a mark well above a [Level] 4 in our classroom instruction," he said, adding that he is trying to get more secondary teachers involved in teaching reading and writing in their subject areas. An example of that, Johnson said, is when students are required to explain math answers in writing, demonstrating - and articulating - their thinking process.
Special education students, he said, still receive "compensation" on tests, as dictated by their learning disabilities. Most commonly, they are allowed extra time. A special test location is another, less common compensation.
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