Fairfax County school officials are rethinking how they teach elementary writing after scores dropped while reading scores rose on state exams. But some school board members were concerned about the reading gain, too, as both subjects’ scores revealed that the county has made little headway in its fight to close the racial achievement gap.
In 2009, 88 percent of fifth-grade students passed the Virginia Standards of Learning writing exam, with 37 percent scoring “advanced,” compared with 92 percent of fifth-graders passing and 42 percent “advanced” in the scores averaged between 2005 and 2007.
“Our scores reflected a trend across Virginia, and we’re not sure why that trend occurred,” said Pat Fege, the school system’s language arts coordinator. “We’re kind of perplexed.”
Writing test
| Percent of fifth-graders passing the writing Standarsds of Learning exam | ||||||
| 005-2007 | 2008-2009 | Change | ||||
| Total | 92 | 88 | -4 | |||
| White | 96 | 93 | -3 | |||
| Asian | 95 | 93 | -2 | |||
| African-American | 81 | 72 | -9 | |||
| Hispanic | 82 | 73 | -9 | |||
| Source: Fairfax County Public Schools | ||||||
Fege says writing became the county’s chief focus last school year: Across 21 staff development sessions, more than 1,300 teachers analyzed sample exams and discussed test language.
The county also provided teachers with sample lessons and scoring rubrics, and spring 2010 scores jumped.
On the reading exam, the percent of students who passed and who scored “advanced” in 2009 rose from 90 to 94 percent and from 48 to 55 percent, respectively.
Reading scores were “a strength to pay attention to,” said Peter Noonan, assistant superintendent of instructional services.
But school board member Tina Hone said she was “not feeling overwhelmed by the progress,” pointing to the achievement gap between white and Asian students and their lower-performing Hispanic and black peers.
While reading scores rose for all students, the number of minority students scoring “advanced” lagged behind the number of white and Asian students by almost 30 percentage points.
“It is easy for us to pat ourselves on the back, but there are significant gaps,” Hone said.
Fege acknowledged in her presentation to the board on reading scores that “all groups are making progress, and there’s a range of achievement within bands.”
The drops in writing scores were also more pronounced among minority students. Asian and white students’ declined only slightly, while the number of black students who passed the writing exam fell from 81 percent to 72 percent. Hispanic students’ pass rate saw a nearly identical drop.
Eleventh-grade pass rates for both the reading and writing exams remained high, above 91 percent for all groups and 99 percent on average for both subjects. The test is a graduation requirement that students may retake until they pass.
