Hernando third-graders do better on the test than their peers statewide. And 53 high school seniors do not pass.
By JEFFREY S. SOLOCHEK
Published May 6, 2003
BROOKSVILLE - Hernando County third-graders outperformed their peers statewide and throughout most of the region on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test.
According to results released Monday, 68 percent of Hernando third-graders scored 3 or better on the reading portion of the test, compared to 63 percent across Florida. On the reading section, 65 percent of Hernando students scored 3 or better, compared to 63 percent statewide.
District testing coordinator Linda Peirce said 233 students scored at the lowest level on the reading section, which means they might have to repeat third grade. Fifteen of those children passed an alternative test, Peirce said, which will allow them to progress to fourth grade.
That result is better than it would have been a year ago, when 307 third-graders scored at the lowest reading level.
At the high school level, the district had 53 seniors who did not pass the FCAT or the High School Competency Test, one of which is required to graduate. By school: 25 attend Hernando High, 11 go to Springstead High, and 17 are at Central High.
Peirce spent most of Monday reviewing the results with elementary school principals and top district administrators. Students and parents should learn their fate today, she said.
"We are doing a district letter," she said. "It will outline the options they have from there."
The district will offer a remediation program for third-graders and seniors who did not pass their respective tests.
Some schools showed great improvement.
At the top of that list were Pine Grove, Spring Hill and Deltona elementary schools, where scores rose precipitously and the numbers of poor-performing students decreased markedly. Brooksville and Chocachatti elementary schools did not make as great strides, but they continued to log in the county's best scores.
Brooksville, for instance, had the highest percentage of students earning level 5, the best, on both parts of the test. Chocachatti had the lowest percentage of children at level 1 on each section, as well as the highest average marks.
"It is not all bad news," Peirce said.
Still, problematic pockets remained.
Eastside Elementary, which cheered strong FCAT writing scores just days ago, saw one in three third-graders score level 1 on reading. The school's average scores in both reading and math dropped.
Eastside, which raised its state-assigned grade last year from D to C, consistently has earned the lowest scores among county schools. Located in Hill 'n Dale, Eastside is a Title I school with a high poverty level.
Moton Elementary, which earned an A last year, also saw its math and reading scores dip from a year ago. Also a Title I school, Moton had a 33 percent failure rate on the reading section.
Peirce cautioned against reading too much into the numbers because they include the scores of students whose results do not count in the overall ranking of schools. That's especially true at Moton and Deltona, which house special education centers.
"Moton, quite frankly - their numbers are quite good" when the scores are sorted out, she said.
Educators at the schools spent the day waiting to see the results, which never found their way back to the campuses. The principals were holed up all day in a meeting.
Chocachatti third-grade teacher Cheryl McCabe said she was eager to know how her students did but did not talk about it in class. She figured private meetings with each child would occur later to review their performance.
"We'll probably call in some parents," she said, between reading and math lessons. "We're hoping for the best."
Her students said they had not thought much about the test since taking it two months ago.
"I'm a little scared. I don't know if I passed or not," said Johnny Keelin, 8.
But he and others confided that the test wasn't too difficult, and they thought they would go on to fourth grade.
"We're all really great, and we all did our best," said Julia Poholek, 9.
If the worst comes, though, the children interviewed said they would just deal with it.
"I'd just take third grade again and do my best," said Mackenzie Siem, 8.
"We'd know everything," said Michael Boylan, 8. "We'd be the smartest in our class."
At Hernando High, counselor Charles Bumpus was too swamped with administering Advanced Placement tests and preparing for this month's graduation to worry too much about FCAT scores. Besides, he said, anyone who failed will have another chance.
"We have to make arrangements for those that did not pass to take the June test," he said. "We have to come up with a remediation plan."
Gov. Jeb Bush and the Republican-led Legislature have made it a priority to ensure that third-graders can read at grade level before moving ahead in school. This is the first year they required passage of the FCAT reading test to move into fourth grade.
There are some other ways to be promoted. These include providing a portfolio showing mastery of the topic and passing the Stanford 9 test after summer reading assistance.
"We were passing kids . . . year after year without challenging them to do better," he said in a news conference. That 23 percent of all third-graders in Florida might repeat "breaks my heart," he continued. "If we don't deal with that issue, going forward we are going to have a whole lot of shattered dreams."
The state will offer programs including summer reading camps, reading mentors and "better readers" family workshops for third-graders, Bush and Education Commissioner Jim Horne said.
"We must provide this help instead of promoting them when they're not ready," Bush said.
