10th-graders' reading scores are declining
BY STEVE HARRISON, Miami Herald, June 29, 2004

The state has celebrated rising FCAT scores in elementary and middle schools. But the most important results -- 10th-grade reading scores -- are declining.

Florida has received national recognition for the test scores of its youngest students on at least three standardized tests, including the respected National Assessment of Educational Progress -- ``the nation's report card.''

But six years after introduction of the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test, reading scores for high school sophomores are declining -- raising questions about why Florida's success in elementary school isn't translating to where it matters most: at the end of the pipeline.

''It's the end result that counts,'' said Michael Cohen, president of Washington, D.C.-based Achieve Inc., a nonprofit that seeks to raise standards across the country.

FCAT Sunshine State Standards reading scores have declined for three consecutive years. Thirty-seven percent of students read at the lowest of five FCAT levels -- the same as in 1999. Reading learning gains for 10th-graders in 2004 are lower than in 2003 and 2002, the first year that data was available.

Scores on the FCAT Norm-Referenced Test also have declined since 2001, when Florida high school students already were below the national average in the 49th percentile. By 2004, they had fallen to the 45th percentile.

The achievement gap between black students and white students in the 10th grade is growing, up nine points on a 400-point scale from 2000 to 2003.

No one knows why scores are declining. Adding to the confusion is that 10th-graders in 2004 first took the FCAT in 1998, when they were in fourth grade. They have spent the majority of their educational careers under Gov. Jeb Bush's FCAT reforms.

The state is laying much of the blame on social promotion, which Bush ended last year, at least in the third grade.

''We need to be patient,'' said the state's chancellor of K-12 Education, former high school teacher Jim Warford. ``Yes, these students have been taking the test for a number of years, but we're talking about changing an entire educational culture. I do think in two or three years we are going to see some gains, and in three or four years we are going to see some continuous improvement.''

The thousands of third-graders who were retained in 2003-04 won't be high sophomores until 2011.

''But I think it's fair to assume that students who started under the current reforms in the fourth grade to show improvement in 10th grade compared with previous 10th-graders,'' said Jay Greene, a fellow at The Manhattan Institute, an educational think tank that supports the state's high-stakes testing plan. ``The state has gotten credit for things it has done well. It's been long enough that they can get blame for things they haven't done well.''

Broward Schools Superintendent Frank Till has spoken of the inability to ''break the code'' for high school reading, but doesn't know why Florida students are stuck.

The state's top testing official, Cornelia Orr, has analyzed the results but can't explain them.

TRYING TO EXPLAIN

One theory is that the high school reading test is hard -- much harder than the middle school reading test, because the passages are more nonfiction, requiring more background knowledge.

''It's like reading Time magazine,'' Orr said. ``Actually, it's much harder than that. It's like reading Scientific American.''

Cohen, the president of Achieve, supports that theory. His organization recently conducted a study of exit exams used for graduation throughout the country.

''Compared to other states, Florida has more reading points devoted to informational topics than to literary topics,'' Cohen said. ``They have been reading literature or fiction in class, and now they get something like a newspaper story, and they are asked to read that. We think that's a good thing because you are preparing them for real reading, for real life.''

Informational FCAT reading passages are often about topics such as jazz musician Louis Armstrong or the Yangtze River. Having prior knowledge about those topics isn't mandatory for success, but when students stumble over the names of unfamiliar people and places, it's harder to focus on comprehension, Cohen said.

To raise scores, Florida schools may need to do a better job teaching geography, science and social studies.

Warford said that the state may need to change the way English is taught in high schools, moving away from traditional literary themes.

''We've got to do a better job teaching informational texts,'' Warford said.

Cohen speculated that high enrollment in Florida's high schools -- among the largest in the country -- could be a culprit.

But that would not explain why FCAT math scores are better. In 2004, they were slightly higher than in 2001, and have improved each year since 2002.

Katia Mompoint, an English and reading teacher at Hialeah Senior High, said math is easier for students with short attention spans.

''In math, you don't have to deal with long passages and complex vocabulary,'' Mompoint said.

``They know they have to pass, but they get bored with reading passages, they get bored with vocabulary, and they start guessing.''

Locally, Miami-Dade 10th-graders have fared better. Its high school sophomores have improved in reading in 2003 and 2004, though they are still far below the state average. Broward's sophomores, despite their three-year slide, are still above the Florida average.

The test most often used to measure the college readiness of high school students is the SAT, but state-to-state score comparisons are not reliable. That's because the test is voluntary; Typically, the lower the participation rate, the higher the average score.

But some general inferences can be made from SAT data.

HIGH VERBAL SCORES

Nationally, more students -- including minorities -- are taking the SAT, but that fact has not depressed scores. Last year, the nation posted its highest verbal scores since 1977.

In Florida, the overall participation rate and the percentage of minorities taking the test have increased more than the national average.

But Florida's scores aren't increasing significantly, and the gap between Florida and the national average is widening.

The high school problem is seen most clearly in school letter grades -- the most visible symbol of the state's accountability plan.

Most Broward and Miami-Dade high schools are stuck with C or D letter grades, unable to replicate the improvement seen in elementary schools.

Herald staff writer Nikki Waller contributed to this report.