THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Wednesday, August 31, 1994             TAG: 9408300142
SECTION: ISLE OF WIGHT CITIZEN    PAGE: 08   EDITION: FINAL 
TYPE: Back to School '94

SOURCE: BY LINDA McNATT, STAFF WRITER 
DATELINE: ISLE OF WIGHT                      LENGTH: Medium:   58 lines

SCHOOLS CHARGED WITH RAISING STUDENTS' SCORES ON IOWA TEST

Local students didn't score as well last spring on the Iowa Test of Basic Skills as School Superintendent Jane T. York had hoped, but scores for sixth-graders on the Literacy Passport Test looked good.

And already York is looking forward to improvement next year.

``The Iowa test scores were down slightly, just like they were statewide,'' York said recently. ``But the Literacy Passport was right at state average, and compared to surrounding areas, we ranked very well.''

Overall, the county's Literacy Passport test scores ranked above every surrounding locality except Poquoson, Virginia Beach, Newport News and York County. York said she wants to see continued improvement on those scores, and she has worked out a strategy to improve the Iowa scores.

Teachers have been told they must teach the curriculum, York said. At a pre-school meeting, teachers and administrators spent a great deal of time talking about how to teach, planning curriculum maps with a time line.

``What they teach is not negotiable,'' York said. ``How will be up to the teacher.''

Meanwhile, every school has been charged with increasing scores on the Iowa test by at least 5 percent. What one group of students scored last year will be measured by that same group of students this year.

``In Windsor, for example, if the third grade scored in the 45th percentile last year, this year's fourth grade must come up by 5 percent,'' York said. ``How is up to the school and the teacher, but we are expecting results.''

And other success indicators will be looked at, the superintendent said, indicators like the number of students trained for vocations, the number enrolled in advanced placement classes, the number of high school students who go on to four-year colleges and the dollar amount of scholarships earned.

``Each school has individual goals for the test scores and the Literacy Passport,'' York said. ``We can set our own goals on the other performance indicators. The plan and how they get there will be left up to the individual schools.'' ILLUSTRATION: Chart

STANDARDIZED TEST SCORES

Literacy Passport Testing Results

Fourth Grade Standadized Test

Eight Grade Standardized Test

11th Grade Standardized Test

Source: Isle of Wight County school officials

For copy of chart, see microfilm

KEYWORDS: ISLE OF WIGHT COUNTY SCHOOLS

STANDARDIZED TEST SCORES

by CNB