Students get ahead under new standards

Paul Clinton

NEWPORT-MESA -- As students in Newport-Mesa schools have become

accustomed to more stringent academic standards, fewer have been held

back.

During the past school year, the Newport-Mesa Unified School District

increased the number of students who moved on to the next grade, while

also raising student test scores, Supt. Robert Barbot said.

The district cut the number of students held back, the latest numbers

show.

In kindergarten through sixth grade, the district held back 268

students, a 34% increase from the previous year.

During the 1999-00 school year, 175 students were held back -- a 72%

increase from the 1998-99 year.

“If we set the standards, we expect to meet them,” Barbot said. “We

hope the kids understand it’s for their own good.”

The district began implementing the state-mandated standards in 1998

with English. That year, students were required to show their knowledge

of various concepts and themes in the subject at each grade level.

The district rolled in math at the beginning of 1999 and social

science later that year. Standards for science were put in place in 2000.

Three bills signed by Gov. Gray Davis in 1998 drastically changed the

landscape of grade-level promotions.

Historically, students have been pushed ahead almost automatically.

But the new laws called for an end to what is known as “social

promotions.”

To help districts ease into the new system, a new pot of money was

made available for new textbooks and other instructional materials.

Newport-Mesa was given about 40% more for new books, money that has

been put to good use, Barbot said.

“It’s been a real blessing,” said Peggy Anatol, the district’s

director of curriculum and assessment. “The materials that we have must

match the standards. To replace some of the books we had, we needed the

resources.”

The district also made some changes in when topics are taught, not

just how they are taught.

Life sciences, historically taught in seventh grade, and physical

science, once taught in eighth grade, were flipped. Health was also moved

down to seventh grade.

Down the road, new state standards will be set for foreign language,

art and physical education, Anatol said.