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Almost a third of fifth-graders in Rowan-Salisbury Schools may not get promoted next spring because of a statewide change to end-of-grade tests.
Last year, 29 percent of fourth-graders in Rowan County’s 17 public elementary schools didn’t make grade level on the tests. That has school administrators scrambling to ensure that fifth-graders can pass the state standardized tests in early May.
“There may still be a number of students who do not make it, but we are doing everything we can possibly do to meet those needs,” said Jerome Heggins, principal at H.D. Isenberg Elementary School, which has set up a computer lab where students can prepare for the tests. Forty-one percent of fourth-graders at Isenberg performed below what the state considers grade level last year.
The state began its ABCs accountability program in 1995. Students in grades three through eight take standardized math and reading tests; in the fourth and seventh grades, they also take a writing test. High school students take end-of-course tests on English, algebra, U.S. history and other subjects.
Teachers at schools where students show improvement from year to year get bonuses and recognition. Schools that do poorly can get a visit from a state team of employees.
This year, under new promotion rules, schools are supposed to retain fifth-graders who don’t score at grade level on the state’s reading or math tests. Fifth-graders must score a 3 or 4 on tests to be promoted to the sixth grade in fall 2001.
But students get several chances. If they don’t pass the test in May, they’ll spend three days preparing for the test a second time. If they fail again, they’ll attend school next summer before trying a third time. After that, a countywide committee of school administrators could still opt to promote students who continue to fail the test.
“The important thing is that we’re helping these kids now,” said Lea Anne Honeycutt, the new principal at North Rowan Elementary School. “We’re not going to wait until testing day and then say, ‘Oops, you failed.’ ”
Next year, the same standards will apply to children in third and eighth grades.
Colby Cochran, who oversees testing in the school system, said elementary schools held a 15-day summer school classes for rising fifth-graders considered at risk of failing the test this year.
“We’re going to have to bring them up to speed to move them on,” Cochran said. “I think it’s going to be a lot tougher for students to get by social promotion because of the accountability in place. It’s going to be here, and it’s not going to go away.”
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