Vt. to schools: Stick to science standards
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By Cristina Kumka STAFF WRITER - Published: September 23, 2009
Slight changes in students' science test scores statewide released Tuesday by the Vermont Department of Education have prompted top officials to call on schools to better integrate state standards for student achievement into their everyday curriculums.
Results of the New England Common Assessment Program science tests taken this May by Vermont public schools students for the second time in grades 4, 8 and 11 show 52 percent of all Vermont fourth-graders are proficient or higher in science — four points up from last year's results.
But far fewer eighth- and 11th-graders statewide are proficient, according to the results.
Twenty-five percent of students in grade eight who took the test achieved scores that ranked them proficient or higher — down one point statewide — and slightly more students in grade 11, 27 percent, achieved proficient or higher scores. The grade 11 results jumped two percentage points from last year, according to the state.
Locally, Rutland High School juniors had a strong showing this year with science scores jumping 10 percentage points — from 21 percent of students proficient or better last year compared to 31 percent this year, according to the state.
Five percent more Rutland Intermediate School eighth-graders are proficient or better this year — from 36 percent to 41 percent.
Education Commissioner Armando Vilaseca gave the overall statewide results a cool reception — citing too much disparity in scores from school to school.
According to the results, about 56 percent of grade 11 students from Stowe Middle/High School earned proficient or better scores while only about 4 percent of grade 11 students from Concord Graded/High School earned the same.
"There is an obvious need for improvement in how our students are learning science," Vilaseca said in a statement released by the department.
Assessment Director Michael Hock echoed Vilaseca's comment, asking schools to stick to the state's framework to improve student scores.
The NECAP exams, also taken by students in Rhode Island and New Hampshire, were designed, in Vermont, to include skills and content from the Vermont Framework of Standards and Learning Opportunities, a set of state standards.
"There are greater differences in the way schools are teaching science," Hock said from Montpelier Tuesday.
"One school of fourth-graders had 95 percent proficient and above while another school had about 5 percent (of students)," he said.
Professional development conferences are held with educators statewide each year to promote integrating state science standards into their everyday lesson plans and the standards are easily accessible on the department's Web site, according to Hock.
One school where integration has worked and where test scores jumped after school officials made science scores a priority is Underhill I.D. Elementary School in Jericho.
Underhill has the highest percentage of students this year, 95 percent, who scored proficient in science or above.
Principal Cindy Mackin said the school hired a science and math consultant, tracks student progress year-to-year with the comprehensive assessment tool online, and kids, along with their parents, have an "awful lot of fun in science."
"Our school is next to a pond and a park and students look at species at different times during the year," she said.
According to Hock, the first thing schools need to do to improve their students' science scores is to do what Underhill did — "align their curriculum with the state's model for standards."
He also recommended teachers stress the importance of doing well on the test in the classroom.
And students need to learn more than just scientific facts to do well.
One-third of each test is experimental — this year fourth-graders did a hands-on experiment with each other to measure momentum and friction while students in grade 11 organized data, studied charts and wrote a response using scientific terms.
In Poultney, Principal Jean Marie Oakman said she will use her small-school setting and new science labs to push for more direct instruction and intervention to make her students understand science, and ask for a policy change requiring students to take science each year.
She called her school's results "very disappointing."
Twelve percent of 42 eighth-graders at Poultney High School achieved proficient or better scores and 10 percent of the 40 students who took the test last year in grade 11 were proficient or better.
According to Oakman, only four students passed the grade 11 test while 21 achieved a score of one — no evidence of understanding or substantially below proficient.
"We only require four credits of science for four years," Oakman said. "Kids who haven't had a science course in two years took that test."
Oakman vowed to "tighten up the way the school does business," by requiring students in grades 7 through 12 to take science each year and do more hands-on experiments in the school's new labs.
"We need to get our kids ready for the 21st century," she said.
For school reports, visit
http://www.education.vermont.gov/new/html/pgm assessment/data.html#html.
cristina.kumka@rutlandherald.com
Some other schools and science scores in our area:
? Bennington Elementary School — 43 percent of grade 4 students proficient or higher, up 3 percent
? Benson Village School — 7 percent of grade 4 students proficient or higher, down 4 percent, and 13 percent of grade 8 students proficient or higher, down 8 percent ?
? Mill River Union Middle/High School — 25 percent of grade 11 students proficient or higher, down 3 percent, and 38 percent of grade 8 students proficient or higher, up 3 percent
Otter Valley Union High School — 15 percent of grade 11 students proficient or higher, down 1 percent, and 17 percent of grade 8 students proficient or higher, up 5 percent
Proctor Junior/Senior High School — 42 percent of grade 11 students proficient or higher, up 13 percent, and 12 percent of grade 8 students proficient or higher, down 17 percent
Springfield High School — 16 percent of grade 11 students proficient or higher, up 2 percent
Woodstock Senior Union High School — 24 percent of grade 11 students proficient or higher, down 4 percent
Woodstock Union Middle School — 25 percent of grade 8 students proficient or higher, down 23 percent.
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