Lee schools doing better on FCAT
BY MICHELLE L. START Correspondent
A 4 percent gain in Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test writing scores has teachers and administrators at Orange River Elementary School ecstatic.
The Florida Department of Education released the fourth, eighth and tenth grade writing scores last week. At Orange River Elementary School, 85 percent of the fourth graders scored a 3.5 or higher. That's well above the state average of 78 percent.
FCAT Writing, administered in grades 4, 8, and 10 only, assesses student skills in composition writing and specifically in the areas of writing focus, organization, support, and conventions (grammar, spelling, etc). Papers are scored on a scale from 1 to 6 with a score of 3 considered as meeting standard for the Federal No Child Left Behind legislation and 3.5 or higher for the Florida A+ Plan (School Grading). In addition to essay scores, the State has incorporated a multiple-choice section in the Writing test this year and published total scores for the first time.
Last year, 81 percent of the students tested at Orange River Elementary School achieved a 3.5 or higher.
"We've worked really, really hard," said principal Holly Bell. "We are a Title I school, 78 percent of our students receive free or reduced lunched and 60 percent are Hispanic. We did breakfast and lunch writing and everything we could do. We are the only Title I school in the district that made adequate yearly progress."
The Title I Act was passed in 1965 and awards funding to schools where the majority of students are financially disadvantaged
or do not speak English as a first language.
For purposes of determining if a school achieves adequate yearly progress, children are broken into four subgroups that are based on race, socioeconomic status, learning disabilities and the ability to
speak English. A percentage of children
in each of the subgroups must receive a passing grade on each portion of the FCAT. The required percentage increases each year.
"It has been a real accomplishment for my staff," said Bell.
At Allen Park Elementary School, administrators and teachers are just as pleased with their students progress. The school experienced a 1 percent increase in the number of children scoring a 3.5, from 88 percent last year to 89 percent this year.
"We are pretty proud," said Jan Cook, curriculum specialist. "Three years ago we began a writing training program through the people in Hillsborough County. We have maintained that training every year. This year we targeted third and fourth graders together, then fourth graders separately. We are reaping the benefits of that. We're very pleased with the results."
Districtwide, the average score was a 3.8.
"We see some real positive improvement in our writing achievement," Dr. James Browder, Superintendent of Schools. "But we will continue to look closely at how we can focus improvement efforts on the mechanics of writing."
While some of the schools were pleased with this year's results, Lee County Schools spokesman Joe Donzelli said celebration may be a bit premature.
"If you look at our fourth graders, 3.8 was the average score. The state average was 3.9," he said. "We also dropped a percentage point on those scoring a 3.5 or higher from 77 percent to 76 percent. A percentage point isn't cataclysmic but we want to make sure it doesn't go any further."
Still, Donzelli said there has been substantial improvement in test scores for eighth and tenth graders.
"We went from 76 percent of tenth graders scoring a 3.5 or higher to 79 percent. That is 3 percentage points," he said. "For eighth graders, we went from 83 percent scoring a 3.5 or higher to 85 percent. What we are seeing now is the fruits of our labors. Are where we where need to be? No. We want to continue to see that upward trend."
The math and reading grades should be released this week,
while school grades will likely be released mid-May.
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