Fewer students in Aiken pass school exit exam 11/24/2009 9:10 PM
By ROB NOVIT Senior writer
A total of 78.3 percent of Aiken County high school sophomores passed the high school exit exam on their first attempt last spring - significantly less than the 82.8 percent who did so in 2008.
Scores on the High School Assessment Program (HSAP) fell statewide, from 80.8 percent passing both English/language arts and math in 2008 to 76.1 percent this year. The test is a graduation requirement. Those who didn't pass the exam on their first try were unsuccessful in math or ELA or both.
The results in any given year don't reflect the percentage of 2008-09 sophomores who do pass the exit exam by their senior year.
With such a large and diverse district, said Aiken Associate Superintendent Dr. Kevin O'Gorman, its scores on HSAP tend to be a little higher than the state averages, but generally mirror the state scores.
"Nobody can really figure out why the scores dropped throughout the state this year," he said. "We certainly want to grow whether the state goes up or down. It's frustrating when both go down, and we wonder if something was going on across the state in terms of curriculum and the test."
The percentages of students at the county high schools and the charter Aiken Performing Arts Academy passing both HSAP tests are as follows: Aiken High (76.5), APAA (33.3), Midland Valley (77.9), North Augusta (80.7), Ridge Spring-Monetta (67.6), Silver Bluff (75.3), South Aiken (83.4) and Wagener-Salley (72.6). Although all seven Aiken County high schools saw their scores dip somewhat, O'Gorman doesn't see that trend on a school-by-school basis. For example, Silver Bluff and Wagener-Salley experienced substantial improvement in subgroups, including black and low-income students.
Wagener-Salley's HSAP scores shot up from 66.2 percent passing rate in 2007 to 75.5 percent last year. The scores dropped back to 72.6 percent, but Principal Pat Keating saw a lot of positives.
"We made the big jump last year and I'm still most pleased with the upward movement," he said. "Most of the programs we've started have been in place less than one school year. We'll see some gains this coming year. We did get tremendous gains in the subcategories, with full-pay students getting some of the highest (percentages) in math in the district."
Keating reiterated that the scores are strictly for first-time test-takers. In 2008, the number of students passing HSAP on the second try pushed the total for that group of sophomores to more than 90 percent, he said.
The group who didn't pass HSAP last spring took a second test or tests last month and the results won't be available until February, Keating said.
"They've been in remediation since day one with pull-out classes," he said. "I feel confident with those kids."
A total of 33.3 percent of APAA sophomores passed both HSAP tests last spring. However, only about nine students took the exam, Director Keisha Lloyd-Kennedy said. Some of the students qualify academically for Individual Education Plans (IEPs), but also must take HSAP, she said.
State Superintendent Dr. Jim Rex acknowledged that the 2009 results are not what he expected. He and his staff will wait a year to see whether the scores reflect a downward trend or a "random blip." He expressed concern that the HSAP results could be a symptom of budget cuts that have totaled $600 million in the past two years.
"That's put pressure on schools just to maintain their core programs at a time when so many of our students have much greater needs," Rex said in a press release.
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Posted by: On: Wednesday, November 25, 2009 8:42 AM
Comment Title:
What do you expect? With kids being allowed to take courses on thwe cumputer and no teacher. HSTW that evaluates a school about what's on the bulletin board and administerators who havwe newvweer taught in the classroom in rthe schools .
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Posted by: On: Wednesday, November 25, 2009 7:54 AM
Comment Title:
Yes - parents as well - which goes along with the home life atmosphere I was referring to.
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Posted by: WSP On: Wednesday, November 25, 2009 7:18 AM
Comment Title:
One word: PARENTS
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Posted by: On: Tuesday, November 24, 2009 8:56 PM
Comment Title: the problem
Budget cuts + lower teacher morale (more pressure due to increased class sizes) + no pay raises = recipe for students not doing as well. Teachers can't devote as much time to the students when they have more kids to account for, and giving them less planning time equates to a lower quality of teaching. All of this eventually impacts the students, especially those with less than stable home lives. The administration seriously needs to take a look at ways to help the teachers and not spread them so thin.
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