While the Alexandria City Public Schools makes plans for next year, the system has cancelled a locally designed and administered test this year.
The Criterion Reference Test (CRT) is designed to give teachers and parents a measure of what children are learning. It is administered to students who are not taking the state mandated Standards of Learning test. At the seventh grade level, the test has been problematic because of a very low passing rate.
“The pass rate on that test for seventh graders has been at about 30 percent for the past few years,” said Molly Danforth, one of the School Board representatives on the school system’s Curriculum Committee. “Teachers tell us that the material on the test is not reflective of what they are teaching and the designers of the test say that it is. You would think they could get together and work this out.”
That is not the reason the test has been cancelled according to Dr. Monty Dawson, director of Testing and Evaluation for the school system.
“There are really two reasons why we have decided to cancel this test at the Middle School level,” he said. “First, teachers at both Middle Schools are giving quarterly exams throughout the year. This allows them and parents to assess how children are doing on an ongoing basis. Second, the state is headed in a direction to expand SOLs to include every grade from third through eighth. If we aren’t going to use the results of the CRT, it seems wiser not to administer them.”
THIS IS THE FIRST YEAR that there has been such an emphasis on quarterly exams. These tests are designed by department heads and teachers and are reflective of the material that is being taught in class. “The CRT has been administered at the end of every year so if a child is identified as having a deficit, no intervention plan can be developed until the following year,” said Carolyn Buckenmaier, the Executive Director of Elementary and Secondary Programs. “The quarterly exams allow for ongoing assessment and intervention. It seems to be working very well at both Francis C. Hammond and George Washington middle schools.”
The state plan for testing will be released near the end of May and everyone will know whether SOL testing will be expanded. In the meantime, the CRT will still be administered to elementary school children.
<sh>Charter Schools
<lst>The Alexandria School Board has passed regulations for charter schools. “I really think of them more as focus schools than the kind of charter school that we tend to think of,” Molly Danforth said. “If someone has a good idea for a school, they can complete the application. Those who run the school will be School Board employees and the Board will regulate the schools. It won’t be the same as many charters are in other jurisdictions.”
A full explanation of procedures and a charter school application can be found on the school web site at WWW.acps.k12.va.us <http://www.acps.k12.va.us/> .
<sh>Lottery Applications
<lst>Lottery applications for the Spanish immersion program at John Adams Elementary School are now available. “We have room for up to 46 children in our kindergarten class for next year,” said Sally Evans, the curriculum specialist for the immersion program. “Children really need to enter the program at kindergarten or first grade, so parents who are interested should apply.”
The program was begun about 10 years ago. “A group of parents from John Adams came to us and asked if we could design a program that would allow children to learn in both English and Spanish,” Evans said. “Some of those parents were familiar with the Key School in Arlington that has such a program and some of the parents just thought it would be beneficial to their children. I visited the Key School and worked closely with the developer of that program to implement the program at John Adams. It has been very successful.”
Children learn math and science in Spanish and are taught language arts, social studies, music, art and physical education in English. “Test scores on standardized tests have been consistently higher for the children in the immersion program,” Evans said.
THIS YEAR, THE program has been expanded to sixth and seventh grade at Francis C. Hammond. Children who have been in the immersion program at Adams are now being offered the opportunity to take language arts in Spanish at middle school. “They now have the opportunity to continue to read and write in the language they have been learning since kindergarten,” Evans said. “When our seventh graders get to Minnie Howard in the ninth grade, they will be ready for Spanish 3. We are very optimistic.”
While the program has been available to students from throughout the city, next year will be the first year that the school system will provide transportation for out-of-area children. Children from every neighborhood except the Mt. Vernon Elementary School attendance zone can apply. Mt. Vernon has its own program that is only available to Mt. Vernon students.
Applications are available at the school system’s Central Office or at John Adams Elementary School. The deadline is June 1.