Tests Show Math Skills Lagging Reading

Discrepancy Worst In Middle School

Virginia test results released last week showed rising scores in reading and math in Fairfax County and a skewed trajectory, as students' literacy skills outpaced their computational abilities.

Overall, the difference is not dramatic. In spring, 92 percent of students passed the state's Standards of Learning reading exams, compared with 87 percent in math. But in middle school, the gap was wider. In grades six and seven, more than 90 percent of students passed reading tests. Meanwhile, 75 percent of sixth-graders and 72 percent of seventh-graders passed the math tests.

"Math pass rates are not up to where they should be," Fairfax School Superintendent Jack D. Dale said.

Dale said the school system's goal of getting students to take Algebra I by eighth grade should help math departments "plan backward" and strengthen instruction and curriculum leading to middle school. About half the county's eighth-graders take Algebra I.

For students, moving from the solid ground of numbers that can be seen and manipulated to the more theoretical concepts of algebra is a tricky transition, and many struggle.

Sixth- and seventh-grade SOL math scores have been a trouble spot since the exams were introduced in 2006. Previously, math taught in those grades was assessed through a cumulative exam given to eighth-graders. To comply with federal No Child Left Behind requirements, the school system started giving tests in each grade, covering one year's content in much more depth.

At first, some local school system officials were shocked by the low scores and assumed something must be wrong with the tests, said Charles Pyle, spokesman for the Virginia Department of Education. A careful review found that the tests fairly reflected the state's academic standards.

Pyle said the new tests "marked a significant increase in rigor" and are helping to prepare students for more challenging math courses.

Frank Atchison, math curriculum coordinator in Fairfax, said the new exams are a worthwhile challenge and will help further a school system goal of increasing the number of students who take four or more years of high school math.

"The big idea is that it's a journey; it's not a race," Atchison said.

With any new assessment, it takes three to five years to adapt the way students are prepared, he said. "What you are looking at is an evolution."

Fairfax pass rates for sixth- and seventh-grade math have increased steadily since 2006, when 69 and 60 percent of students, respectively, made the grade. Fairfax's pass rates for this year were seven points above the state's in both grades.

David Van Vleet, Fairfax's middle school curriculum specialist, said interpreting middle school test results is complicated because often students do not take a test that matches their grade level. For example, some seventh-graders take their grade's math test, but those in honors classes usually take the eighth-grade exam, as do those in Algebra I.

The standard seventh-grade exam is tough because it includes many eighth-grade level concepts, Van Vleet said. By eighth grade, when students revisit some of those concepts, scores rise again.

Those in accelerated classes also do well. Nearly all eighth-graders who take Algebra I pass the year-end exam, Fairfax officials reported.

Every county middle school is analyzing its scores to find ways to help students improve, Van Vleet said.

"We have a ways to go," he said. "We want to make sure all students are going to be successful."