DATE: Thursday, July 24, 1997               TAG: 9707240404

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY DENISE WATSON, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: NORFOLK                           LENGTH:   76 lines

IN NORFOLK, SCHOOL OFFICIALS ARE PLEASED WITH TEST BUT ACHIEVEMENT GAP REMAINS BETWEEN WHITE, BLACK STUDENTS.

Elementary school students scored just below the national average on a new, more rigorous standardized test - but school officials were pleased to see a continuing improvement in Literacy Passport Tests.

And, despite the district's focus on improving the performance of students in poor, predominately black communities, a disparity between white and black students continues to widen.

Stanford Achievement Test composite scores show the district's fourth- and fifth-graders scoring in the 50th percentile on tests of reading, math, and language, meaning 50 percent of the fourth- and fifth-graders nationwide scored higher. The scores of first-, second-, third- and 11th-graders ranged in the 44th to 47th percentile. Seventh- and eighth-graders scored in the 37th and 39th percentiles.

This is the first year for the Stanford 9, which is called more comprehensive and more up-to-date than the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills it replaces.

Even though the two tests aren't considered comparable, school officials expected math and language scores to be lower than ITBS with the rigor of the new test, but were pleased when reading scores remained constant with last year's ITBS. Students scored in the 46th percentile, meaning 53 percent of students nationwide performed better.

While reading pulled the highest scores, math appeared to be the toughest subject, with scores of five grades falling in the 33rd to 39th percentile range.

``When you change (standardized tests), more times than not, you have a significant decline in results,'' said Thomas Lockamy Jr., deputy superintendent for academic affairs and accountability.

``That didn't happen (in reading) and we were happy with that. . . . We were able to hold our own on that.''

The Stanford scores, which were released this week, also continue to show an achievement disparity between white and black students, which school administrators have monitored for several years. The widest disparity on the Stanford appears at the 11th-grade level, where white students overall performed four grade-levels higher than blacks.

Administrators have tried to shrink the achievement gap, pumping more money into community neighborhood schools and expanding the pre-kindergarten education program to give economically disadvantaged students an earlier start.

But test scores show the gap is widening. In 1991, 11th-grade ITBS scores showed whites performed at the 64th percentile, while blacks were at the 41st. In 1996, blacks fell to the 38th percentile, while whites rose to the 66th.

On the new, Stanford reading test, whites performed at the 66th percentile while blacks hit the 33rd.

The School Board and school administrators will meet this weekend to discuss the test results and how the district's Quality Schools Initiative, an academic improvement plan which will begin in September, can help close the gap.

For the Stanford 9, Virginia school districts were mandated to test grades 3, 5, 8 and 11. Norfolk, in addition, spent about $92,000 to test grades 1, 2, 4 and 7 to gain a broader look at student achievement.

``If you assess in the second and fourth (grades), you can better predict how they will do on the state test,'' Lockamy said.

Only in three grade levels did students score above the national average: first-graders in reading, 51 percentile; fifth-graders in math, 51 percentile; fourth-graders in language, 51 percentile.

Test results for the sixth-grade Literacy Passport Tests show continuing improvement, with 54.5 percent of students passing all three tests of reading, writing and math. The score was a 1.1 percent increase over last year's scores, a 10.2 jump from 1995.

All students must pass the tests in order to graduate from high school. ILLUSTRATION: Graphic

ABOVE NATIONAL AVG.

First-grade reading 51%

Fourth-grade language 51%

Fifth-grade mathematics 51% KEYWORDS: STANDARDIZED ACHIEVEMENT TESTS NORFOLK SCHOOLS

Send Suggestions or Comments to webmaster@scholar.lib.vt.edu