Schools Put to the Test

Great Falls classrooms changing under weight of federally mandated exams

By PETER JOHNSON
Great Falls Tribune Staff Writer
March 14, 2004

TRIBUNE PHOTO BY STUART S. WHITE
Carrie Hill leads a reading group in her second grade class at Valley View School. Hill worries that the recent focus on testing brought about by federal No Child Left Behind laws will limit her ability to draw out students. It's our challenge to keep learning fun for these young children while trying to make sure every minute is used," she said.

After six months of extra attention to math and reading, Great Falls students now begin an intense five-week testing season.

Focus on the tests -- which include new exams that measure learning for the federal No Child Left Behind laws -- has reshaped what happens in the district's classrooms this school year.

At its simplest level, the federal program requires schools to assure that every child is proficient at math and reading by 2014. To get there, each school must demonstrate steady improvement under a strict and complex set of guidelines that have frustrated some educators and worried some parents.

Failing in any area means an entire school has underperformed and triggers a series of progressively more drastic changes. And the pressure is showing.

"Teachers are more stressed out this year," said Diane Dezellem, Valley View PTA president. "They're worried about how the tests will go and how it will affect their school."

Meadow Lark Elementary parent Heidi Romain said she is concerned that art, music and programs for gifted students will receive less emphasis or be cut as the district is forced to raise the scores of lower-achieving students in basic subjects.

"We also shouldn't leave other students behind simply because they excel," Romain said.

Longfellow Elementary Principal Cal Gilbert, the newest member of the State Board of Public Education, called the federal program "the best thing that ever happened for at-risk kids" because it assures that struggling students get extra classroom and tutoring help.

"They definitely won't be lost in the shuffle," said Gilbert, who formerly served as Indian education director for Great Falls schools.

Still, Gilbert also fears that schools may be forced to devote so much time to low-achieving students that programs and teacher attention for average and top students could suffer.

After Great Falls schools did worse than expected in the first round of measurements last fall, principals and teachers were ordered to focus much of their attention this school year on teaching reading and math basics.

Elementary teachers have been told "to make sure they use every minute," said Lonnie Yingst, assistant superintendent. And while targeting reading and math, he said, they've spent less time on science, social studies and other subjects that are not part of the newest tests.

Now, test-time is here.

First 'No Child' tests near
The first round, which begins this week in most school buildings, is the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills, exams that have been used in many Montana districts for years. The state still requires them at some grade levels, but this year it also requires newly developed No Child Left Behind tests, which will follow in early April.

"Our staff is getting very nervous about the testing because they're so important, and we've put so much time into preparing," Valley View fourth-grade teacher Kirstin Laveson said. "I hope things go well."

Assistant Superintendent Yingst acknowledged the pressure is on. "Educators are proud of what they do and don't want their schools listed in the paper for failing to meet federal goals," he said.

Besides embarrassment, schools that continue to come up short on the standards face penalties that start with having to pay for students to transfer to other school buildings or to get special tutoring. Montana will announce the results of this year's tests by December.

The No Child Left Behind law was advocated by President George W. Bush and passed Congress in 2001. Supporters cited alarming data, such as a measurement that found only 32 percent of the nation's fourth-graders read proficiently. Montana's corresponding number was 35 percent. But using a different measure, Great Falls elementaries did better than 80 percent of other U.S. public schools.

Making the trek tougher, school districts must demonstrate that subgroups within each school building also test at their grade levels. Such groups include low-income and special education students as well as minorities.

Wakeup call for Great Falls
Great Falls parents and educators expressed surprise and disappointment last fall when all five public middle and high schools and three of the 15 grade schools in the district failed to meet "adequate yearly progress" under the new law.

The overall scores were good at each school, but one or more of the subgroups, usually special education students, fell short.

In response, Superintendent Bryan Dunn launched the school year last fall by urging teachers to "teach smarter," instruct "from bell to bell," focus on the reading and math areas that are tested and to cut back on fun or extraneous topics.

The district also eliminated some field trips and classes not tied to basics. And it bought a sophisticated computer program allowing educators to hone in on how individual students and teachers were faring.

Parents say they've seen fewer relaxed smiles on teachers' faces this year. Teachers fret that they're losing opportunities for spontaneous lessons that can enliven classrooms. And even administrators and principals worry that the pendulum has swung too far.

"Right now I worry that No Child Left Behind has placed fear in the schools, fear among teachers that their schools could be unfairly labeled failures," said Lori Bryant, a Roosevelt Elementary parent and Head Start volunteer.

"I'm all for raising the bar, but only if the federal government pays for supplemental help. Otherwise, more pressure falls on teachers, and some children may fall by the wayside."

Parent says kids 'bored'
Parent Anne Martinez said her grade school and middle school children are more bored than stressed because preparing for the tests is tedious.

"My elementary kids are doing fewer hands-on science projects and more worksheets than they did two years ago, and that's sad," she said. "You really get excited and learn when you do experiments such as dropping objects of different weights to test gravity."

Dennis Haverlandt, president of the Great Falls Education Association, said the stress level has been higher this year, especially in the fall "when principals were giving marching orders to teachers to use every minute to prepare their kids for the tests."

Teaching to tests has never been the emphasis of good teachers, he said.

Instead, teachers prefer to explore topics in different ways, use varied strategies for different students and evaluate them not on a single test but through homework, reports, classroom participation and other work, Haverlandt said.

"There seems to be more rote learning than creative teaching required now, and several teachers have told me it's just not as much fun," he added.

In fact, 27 teachers have signed up to resign this spring, a few more than usual, Haverlandt said. Another 29 plan to retire, which is about the same as usual.

At least some are quitting teaching because of frustrations with No Child Left Behind, he said.

Emphasis on 'bottom line'
Ralph Higgins, 56, is a veteran North Middle School social studies teacher who is retiring after 33 years. He said his decision, in part, was influenced by increased pressure "to show on the bottom-line test score that students have been learning."

Higgins said he also regrets having to drop some lessons that energized students, but aren't tied closely enough to the testing curriculum.

Students had enjoyed researching reports on states or nations and learning how to do them as computer slide presentations, he said.

East Middle School sixth-grade teacher Kathryn Lewis, 57, called it "particularly nerve-racking to expect that everyone, regardless of their abilities or support from home, be held to the same standard of improvement."

It's harder "juggling time" to help all students individually and make required assessments, she said, especially when some of the morning "home-base" time necessary to build rapport with students has been trimmed.

Lewis said she believes strongly in trying to educate everybody, but regrets losing time to teach special enrichment lessons.

"Teachers try to inspire students to want to know and to realize it can be fun," she said. "We fall short of that goal if we don't make the journey interesting."

'Teachable moments' lost
Valley View second-grade teacher Carrie Hill, 33, said she regrets not being able to draw her students out as much about their trips or other experiences that can relate to school subjects.

One girl was excited this week about her family's pending visit to Disneyland, Hill said. In other years, she might have had the class find the resort on a California map and chat a few minutes about her plans. This year she decided there was no time.

"Often those 'teachable moments' are the ones that kids remember and learn the most from," Hill said. "It's our challenge to keep learning fun for these young children while trying to make sure every minute is used."

Hill displayed her skills and proved her point in a classroom reading group.

The seven children giggled and almost jumped up and down to be called on as Hill led them through a story that started with a mischievous boy bringing a snowball into school.

Hill asked them to form a mental picture, think what might happen next and compare it to any other experiences they'd had.

"Teaching is still a great job," she said later with a smile.

Fourth-graders on hot seat
Laveson, Hill's Valley View colleague, is more on the hot seat since fourth-graders are the only elementary grade taking the new No Child Left Behind tests this year.

Like her colleagues throughout the district, she has spent class time each day since September getting her students ready for the test. The district obtained copies of a similar test used last year by Wyoming so students could practice.

Still, learning to think critically has been more important than practice at penciling in ovals on the test form, stressed Laveson and Valley View Principal Rhonda McCarty.

The "No Child" test will involve thinking and drawing conclusions about nonfiction, fiction and poetry reading selections and figuring out math story problems, not just simple computation, Laveson said.

"We've worked some every day to be successful test takers, and there's nothing wrong with that since the test is based on Montana's educational standards," she said. "We're becoming better teachers, and the kids are learning things that will help them the rest of their lives."

Valley View's McCarty said the federal law has given the school district the motivation to improve its own computer analysis of student test data, which is helping teachers better gear their lessons to student needs.

But she said she also thinks testing pressure has caused teachers to teach very close to the basic curriculum, with little variation. "... It has taken some of the creativity out of teaching," she said.

Trouble ahead
Even as he leads his staff to implement No Child Left Behind, Superintendent Dunn sees trouble ahead. He predicted the good aspects of the program -- including helping struggling students do better -- will be lost, and the program will collapse because of frustration by educators and parents over aspects "that make no sense."

Indeed, the law has sparked controversy from Virginia to Utah, as several states with legislative sessions this year have taken steps to resist requirements they consider unreasonable. Some legislatures have weighed refusing to participate, even under penalty of losing all federal school funds.

Just last week a delegation from the National Conference of State Legislatures met with federal Education Secretary Rod Paige to protest aspects of the program. The group estimates states need some $9.6 billion from their own budgets to meet federal requirements this year alone.

For his part, Dunn predicted "the program has to be modified dramatically, or it won't survive," suggesting such changes as a more realistic way of assessing progress by special-ed students.

"Another problem is that the federal government is prodding schools to focus all of our energy, money and time on getting low-achieving kids across a minimum hurdle, with no incentives to help average and gifted kids keep learning beyond that level," he said.

"Parents of those kids should be concerned."