Schools brace for the all-important exam

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the second in a five-part series on how the local school district is dealing with the No Child Left Behind Act.

Shortly after the New Year, twin sisters Jacqueline and Stephanie Jovel opened a pair of review books and got to work studying. Their mother had bought each of them a guide to fifth-grade math, English and other subjects, and after school they began cramming in knowledge for a pair of upcoming tests.

Those were the California Standards Tests, which Wilson Elementary School plans to hold in May. The sisters opted to get an early start studying, though, and their teachers have helped them along, giving sample questions in class and even a few sugary incentives. Jacqueline said her teacher, Audrey Woolfolk, distributed candy to encourage students not to give up.

“When you read a lot, sometimes your head hurts,” Jacqueline, 11, said Friday during a break from studying at the Wilson Street Learning Center.

For many schools in Newport-Mesa — and the rest of California — there’s little shortage of headaches this time of year. Since President Bush signed the No Child Left Behind Act in 2002, the government has required schools with low-income populations to raise their scores consistently or face sanctions. Schools may have top-notch after-school programs, perfect attendance or choice electives, but their fate lies in the packets that go to Sacramento every spring.

“It’s almost a feeling of anticipation,” said Newport-Mesa assessment director Peggy Anatol. “We have all the pieces in place — pacing plans, state-adopted books, benchmark tests. Teachers, every day since Day One, have been preparing for those standardized tests.”

The California Standards Tests, introduced in 1999, measure students’ performance in English, math, history and science. It’s the first two subjects, though, that determine a school’s performance under No Child Left Behind. As a result, teachers must juggle two tasks each day in the classroom: helping students complete the assignment at hand and ensuring that they’re on pace with schools throughout California.

“It’s become a very research-based type of teaching environment,” said Wilson Elementary School Principal Candy Sperling, whose school has scaled down on art and field trips and obtained a grant for more tutors.

On the English tests, students must analyze poems and stories, define words and correct spelling and grammar errors; the math tests top off at geometry and algebra. The state grades students on a scale of 600 points, with 350 a “proficient” score. Last year, Assemblywoman Loni Hancock, D-Berkeley, submitted a bill to change the state’s definition of proficiency to help more students pass; Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed the measure.

With the state standards high, teachers use pacing plans to guide students toward the testing dates. Houghton Mifflin and other publishers provide books carefully outlining skills students need to learn by different points in the year. In addition, some Newport-Mesa schools are coordinating teachers’ schedules so they teach the same subjects at identical hours of the day.

The disparities between Newport-Mesa’s richest and poorest neighborhoods, however, still register in the grade book. The four sites with the highest numbers of low-income students — Pomona, Rea, Whittier and Wilson elementary schools — have all been on the Program Improvement list in the last two years.

The four with the lowest poverty rates — Andersen and Newport Coast elementary schools, Orange Coast Middle College and Corona del Mar high schools — met all their federal requirements.

“We’re dealing with human beings,” said Jim Rogers, president of Newport-Mesa’s teachers union.

“When a teacher walks into an elementary classroom, the people they’re dealing with are facing a number of things in their homes. You’re dealing with 20 different personalities.”

SAMPLE TEST QUESTIONS

ENGLISH- LANGUAGE ARTS, SECOND GRADE

1. Find the word that has been divided into syllables correctly.A. b-ottle

B. bo-ttle

C. bot-tle

D. bott-le

ENGLISH- LANGUAGE ARTS, SEVENTH GRADE

2. “Harry Houdini was a man who astonished and enthralled many people during his life.” You can tell from the sentence that “enthralled” means:A. apart

B. vanished

C. convinced

D. fascinated

MATHEMATICS, FIFTH GRADE

3. A company donated 200 books to a local library. If 70 of them are fiction, what percent of the donated books are fiction?

A. 35%

B. 40%

C. 60%

D. 65%

ALGEBRA I

4. Marcy has a total of 100 dimes and quarters. If the total value of the coins is $14.05, how many quarters does she have?

A. 27

B. 40

C. 56

D. 73

Answers: 1. C; 2. D; 3. A; 4. A

Source: 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006 tests posted on the California Department of Education website, www.cde.ca.gov/ta/tg/sr/css05rtq.asp.