By V. Dion Haynes and Dan Keating
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, July 11, 2008
Principals at some D.C. schools that demonstrated a dramatic increase on this year's student achievement test credit the gains to programs they implemented after a push from Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee.
One principal established a 10th-grade academy to provide intensive preparation for students taking the test. Another introduced a Saturday "Kickball Quiz Bowl," offering iPods and movie passes to students who correctly answered sample test questions. And one constantly apprised students of their pre-test scores, hoping to make them responsible for improvement.
The latest results from the D.C. Comprehensive Assessment System (DC-CAS) showed significant increases from the 2007 academic year. The proficiency level for elementary students rose 11 percentage points in math and eight in reading; the level for secondary students went up nine percentage points in reading and math.
Although only 47 schools, about one-third of the total, made adequate yearly progress under the federal No Child Left Behind law, that was 16 more than last year.
According to preliminary data on the system's Web site, many schools made sizable leaps. For instance, 14 secondary schools made gains of 10 percentage points or more, including Coolidge High School, where math scores jumped 29 points.
"We're not just moving the top-tier students, we're getting kids out of the basement as well," said L. Nelson Burton, principal of the Northwest campus, whose math gains were the highest among secondary schools.
Fifty-one percent of Coolidge students reached proficiency in math, up from 22 percent last year, a major accomplishment for a school in academic trouble for failing for five consecutive years to meet achievement targets under the No Child Left Behind law.
The scores, Burton said, helped him raise achievement enough to make adequate yearly progress under Safe Harbor, a provision of the law that gives credit to schools that make big gains despite falling short of targets. Reading scores at Coolidge were up five points, to 29 percent.
Rhee released the systemwide data Wednesday, saying she would not make the school-by-school figures available until later this summer, after they are verified. But they were on the Office of the State Superintendent of Education's Web site yesterday. "In past years, the principal got a chance to look at the scores to review them, and [then] we made them public," said Rhee's spokeswoman, Mafara Hobson.
The state superintendent's office "decided to release them under the condition of everyone knowing the scores were preliminary and that there could be changes," she said.
Some principals attributed their intense focus on the test to Rhee, who met at the beginning of the year with all of the principals and asked that they significantly raise the bar for the 2008 scores.
Seventy-three of 101 elementary schools gained in reading. Thirty-three of those schools had double-digit growth, including Mamie D. Lee and Sharpe Health special education centers, which gained 48 and 47 points, respectively.
Students at Lee, in Northeast, and Sharpe, in Northwest, take an alternative assessment because many have severe cognitive disabilities, said Maria Ibañez, spokeswoman for the state superintendent's office.
Just how much of the gains can be attributed to programs implemented under Rhee and how much should be credited to former superintendent Clifford B. Janey is hard to determine, said Michael Casserly, executive director of the Washington-based Council of the Great City Schools.
After Rhee's push, principals introduced several strategies to boost test scores.
At Bell Multicultural High School in Northwest, Principal Maria Tukeva introduced a Saturday "Quiz Bowl" in which students competed on sample tests for prizes such as iPods and movie tickets. She added a "Kickball Quiz Bowl" in which students kicked a ball and got on base when they correctly answered a question.
There were other prizes for students who increased their scores on pre-tests, including a day on which they could forgo their uniforms.
The school's math scores rose by 20 percentage points and reading by 16.
"I knew we were going to make increases, but I didn't know they would be that great," Tukeva said. "I was really, really excited."
At Ballou High in Southeast, 18 percent of students reached proficiency in math, up from 6 percent last year. And 22 percent reached that level in reading, also up from 6 percent.
"Ninety-nine percent of the credit goes to the 10th-grade academy administrator," said Thomas Byrd, a member of the school's PTA. The administrator ensured that "10th-graders would get academic rigor and [be] prepared to take the DC-CAS."
At Coolidge, Burton said, teachers met every morning to tailor programs for students who were lagging. They also kept students informed of their pre-test results so that they could become accountable for making improvements. The students, he said, were constantly talking about their numbers.
As a result, he said, only 15.8 percent of math students were below the basic proficiency level -- the lowest category under the No Child law. In 2006, 49.72 percent of students were below the basic level, Burton said.
Despite the gains, however, the percentage of students who reached proficiency remains low. In elementary schools, 46 percent of students were considered proficient in reading and 40 percent in math. In secondary schools, 39 percent were proficient in reading and 36 percent in math.
At only 29 out of 101 elementary schools did a majority of students pass the math test, and at only 38 did a majority pass the reading test.
A majority of students passed the math test at 10 out of 36 secondary schools and reading at nine schools.
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