Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, September 21, 1995                   TAG: 9509210053
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-1   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: LISA APPLEGATE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG                                LENGTH: Medium

MONTGOMERY SCHOOLS TOUT TEST SCORES

Assistant Superintendent Jim Sellers told the School Board Tuesday night they should be proud of the improvements county students have made.

"In all the indicators, we should approximate the state average," Sellers said. "Montgomery County far exceeds that."

Sellers presented a four test result summaries:

Outcome Accountability Project, a report that ranks all Virginia school systems based on indicators such as poverty level, dropout rates and foreign language enrollment.

Literacy Passport Test, which tests sixth-graders in reading, writing and math.

Iowa Test of Basic Skills, which tests grades four, eight and 11 and includes such categories as vocabulary, work-study and social studies.

Scholastic Aptitude Test, used to test high school juniors in verbal and math ability for college admissions.

This year, Montgomery County ranked just below the state average for socioeconomic status and just above for the poverty level in the Accountability Project. The federal and state governments tie funding directly to those numbers. Considering how much the system stretches that money, Sellers said, pupils are performing well above average.

In the Iowa test, Montgomery County pupils ranked in the top fourth of the 133 school districts in the state. Last year, the system only ranked in the top third.

For example, the eighth-grade test scores for vocabulary placed Montgomery County eighth in the state. Last year, it ranked 30th.

SAT total scores ranked almost 100 points higher than the state average.

Literacy Passport Test results, which were released in July, are steadily increasing - from 59.1 percent of sixth-graders passing all three parts in 1991-92 to 65.9 percent last year.

The trend is a stable increase, Sellers said, and that is where the schools should concentrate - not on single test results.

Some trends, he admitted, give cause for concern. By the eleventh grade, test scores in the Iowa test drop in written expression and reading.

Also, the dropout rates for high school and special needs students are significantly higher than the state average: Out of the 133 school divisions, Montgomery County rated 98th.

Several board members suggested the next step would be to hold a retreat to decide on specific goals to improve the low score areas.

The scores are meaningless unless the board uses them to guide the administration on where to focus its energy, said member Bob Goncz.