More than quarter fail ISAT
Idaho’s 10th-graders must pass the Idaho Standards Achievement Test in order to graduate from high school, but more than a quarter of students in the class of 2007 failed the test given this spring – and they were tested only at the ninth-grade level.
Students are tested in third through eighth grades and again in their sophomore year of high school, when students must pass tests in reading, math and language to graduate. According to results released Friday by the State Board of Education, 73.3 percent of sophomores passed all three subjects tested this spring.
The class is only the second in the state required to pass the ISAT to graduate. The requirement went into effect with the class of 2006 – next year’s graduates. But because the state decided to phase in the graduation requirement, the class of 2006 had to pass the test at only an eighth-grade level and the class of 2007 had to pass at the ninth-grade level. Students who took the test this spring had to test at the ninth-grade level to pass.
Sophomores taking the test next spring will have to test at the 10th-grade level in order to pass.
There was a slight decrease in the percentage of sophomores passing the ISAT statewide this spring in all subject areas tested compared to the previous year. But in a press conference Friday, State Board of Education officials said it was important to note that students had to test at a higher level – though still not their grade level – this spring in order to pass.
Students have up to nine more chances to take portions of the test they fail in their sophomore year, according to the State Board.
According to the results released Friday, 85percent of sophomores passed in reading, 70 percent passed math and 78 percent passed language.
Districts can determine an alternative graduation requirement for students who don’t pass the ISAT.
Post Falls Superintendent Jerry Keane said one alternative being explored would require students to pass other tests and that grade-point averages and other school work would be considered.
He said his district has only a handful of students in the class of 2006 who still haven’t passed the ISAT. Keane said that should encourage students in the class of 2007 who have yet to pass the ISAT.
“I think we still have a good chance of getting them there, as demonstrated by the class of 2006,” Keane said.
In a press release Friday, the State Board said there were significant increases in the number of American Indian, black and Hispanic students passing the 10th grade ISAT. The “achievement gap” in ISAT scores between white students and minorities decreased in some other grades and subjects, too.
The state also reported Friday that test-score gains were made by the state’s economically disadvantaged students – those who qualify for free and reduced lunch.
The percentage of students statewide passing the ISAT increased in fourth-grade reading and math, all subjects in the seventh and eighth grades and in reading at the 10th-grade level.
“Most students are doing well,” said Gary Stivers, executive director of the State Board. Stivers said there have been considerable gains in reading and math. Because this is the third year of testing for some grades, Stivers said the board has been able to identify trends.
For the first time in the three-year history of the ISAT, reading had the highest percentage of students passing, followed by language and math. Previously, the best results had been in language followed by reading and then math.
The Lakeland, Coeur d’Alene and Post Falls school districts all showed an increase in the number of students passing all areas of the ISAT at the seventh-grade level. At other grade levels, results were mixed.
In May, the State Board released a study finding flaws in the ISAT. At the time, Superintendent of Public Instruction Marilyn Howard expressed concern that the problems could result in lawsuits from students who don’t pass the ISAT and aren’t allowed to graduate.
The study found that some ISAT questions ignore whether 10th-graders have learned basic math concepts while focusing on difficult questions about algebra. The tests include no requirements for writing samples and quiz students on skills the state doesn’t necessarily consider core standards, such as vocabulary.
In an extensive report released with the test scores on Friday, Coeur d’Alene School Board Chairwoman Wanda Quinn, Sen. John Goedde, R-Coeur d’Alene, and Lakeland Superintendent Chuck Kinsey are highlighted as supporters of the ISAT.
Quinn said that one of the advantages of the test is that districts can easily identify students who are at or above grade level, or those needing additional help.
“Most importantly, it informs educators as to an individual student’s growth from fall to spring,” Quinn said.
Goedde said that before the ISAT there wasn’t a good way to measure how well students were doing – or what kind of return taxpayers were getting on the dollars they invested in public education.
“Now that results are being measured, students and teachers are working to improve those results and each can tell how well they are doing,” he said.