ISAT language scores drop
Results of the spring Idaho Standards Achievement Test show significant drops in the language portion of the three-part exam, meaning schools with a history of meeting state proficiency standards could face their first year under a “needs improvement” label.
The ISAT covers reading, math and language and is given to all students in grades two through 10. Students must pass all three sections to graduate high school.
The scores also help determine which schools meet the adequate yearly progress standards set by the state and mandated by the federal No Child Left Behind Act.
Schools that don’t meet the standards for one year are labeled “needs improvement,” with more consequences to follow if scores don’t improve next year.
Most school districts received scores Wednesday and have a month to appeal results.
Coeur d’Alene and Lakeland district officials say they’ve already seen problems with the data – students being counted more than once, for instance – that could skew scores.
Final scores and which schools failed to meet standards will be available in two weeks, said Mark Browning, spokesman for the state Board of Education.
The preliminary scores show no big losses or gains in math or reading in schools in Kootenai County. But language usage scores did drop in the Coeur d’Alene, Lakeland and Post Falls districts.
The spring test adopted a new format, which could explain the drop in scores, said Hazel Bauman, the Coeur d’Alene district’s assistant superintendent.
“It would be hard for me to think that in one year the curriculum and teaching of our teachers and learning of our students would have decreased so dramatically,” Bauman said. “(But) I’m not prepared to blame it all on the test.”
Barney Brewton, curriculum director for the Post Falls School District, said he also wonders if the drops might be because of the new format.
“It sure makes you wonder, because these are pretty good drops,” Brewton said. “Usually our language scores are pretty (equal) to our reading scores.”
Browning said he doesn’t yet know how students performed statewide on that portion of the test and can’t say whether the state might adjust the standards to keep the dramatic drop in scores from affecting a school or district’s status under No Child Left Behind.
“That’s a decision that’s beyond me. … But obviously if there’s a lot of schools (in that situation), that request could be made,” he said.
Once the scores are in final form, Bauman said, she’ll meet with each school principal for an in-depth look at the scores and a discussion on how to improve. Other districts will take similar measures, but now the concentration is on sorting through the scores and making sure they’re correct.
“We need to look long and hard at the validity of what we see, and at this point in time I don’t know that is completely proven,” said Becky Ford, assistant superintendent of the Post Falls district.