2,500 Broward pupils to repeat third grade this fall

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From: denise

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2,500 Broward pupils to repeat third grade this fall

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By Malernee

Education Writer

August 13, 2003

About 2,500 Broward third-graders will be held back this coming fall, roughly

half of those who originally failed the reading portion of the FCAT.

Although officials have said this is a bite-the-bullet year, when students who

can't read will no longer be passed along in the system, thousands of students

avoided that fate by passing alternative tests, participating in an intense

summer reading camp or receiving exemptions for special reasons.

" I think it's remarkable, " said Cary Sutton, Broward's director of research

services. " [Alternative measurements] enable students who do not work well on

standardized tests to show that they indeed have the skills. We've tried to

identify all the avenues available to students. "

State officials don't know yet whether Broward's retention rates are indicative

of Florida in general. The percentage of third-graders who originally failed the

FCAT and are being retained is greater in Palm Beach County, about 65 percent.

Statistics for the entire state won't be available until after school begins for

most districts, said state Department of Education spokeswoman Francis Marine.

Still, it's clear more students will be retained this year in Florida than ever

before. For Broward, that's 12 out of every 100 third-graders who took the FCAT.

And that continues to anger FCAT opponents.

" We're not pleased when a single child is being retained, " said Quan Coa, a Boca

Raton board member of the Florida Coalition for Assessment Reform. " We should be

putting our money into education, not into testing. "

Although FCAT failures created panic for many parents, students who failed the

FCAT had several other ways to still move to fourth grade. They include:

Scoring high enough on a norm-referenced version of the FCAT, which was given at

the same time and used to compare students to the rest of the nation.

Passing another standardized test known as the SAT-9.

Qualifying for exemptions given to special needs children.

Showing through a portfolio that they could read on grade level.

School districts were allowed to define exactly what this portfolio entailed as

long as it showed the student met standards. In Broward, a special test was

created to mimic the FCAT, requiring students to read three passages and answer

questions.

" If children have demonstrated that they can, in fact, read, that's obviously

good news, " Marine said. " The idea is to end social promotion, but we do believe

that teachers and those who work closest with students have insights into their

performance. "

About 20 percent of those Broward students who attended the summer reading camp

managed to increase their reading skills enough to move on to fourth grade,

district numbers show. That's lower than some other Florida counties that have

also released their results but not out of line with local expectations.

" No one thought a few weeks of summer camp was going to create miracles, " said

board member Lois Wexler. " It was an opportunity, but not an easy one. "

In some districts, summer camps were more effective in boosting scores than in

Broward. Seventy percent of third-graders in Hillsborough County passed the

SAT-9 after attending the camps. One out of four children passed in Lake County

after the intensive sessions. Palm Beach County's results were about the same as

Broward's, however, with 18 percent of those in the camps moving on to fourth

grade.

Summer school has not historically proved effective in Broward, the reason

School Board members originally did not want to authorize the $4 million reading

camp. They said the money would be better used during the school year, but the

state mandated the summer program. Almost 1,000 students, or almost one-third

who were eligible to go to the camp in Broward, didn't show up. Of those

approximately 2,000 who did, 397 will be promoted.

The next step, said Associate Superintendent Blasik, is to make sure all

those students who failed the FCAT -- promoted or not -- receive the extra help

they need this fall.

" The key for us will be to see to it that those students who made it over to the

other side continue to have success in the next grade, and for those that have

not met those standards to continue to get intense instruction, " she said.

Malernee can be reached at jmalernee@... or .

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