New chapter on reading scores

Nebraska’s new reading test delivered surprisingly bad news last week, showing that 31 percent of students failed to meet state standards.

But officials say the results could have a positive impact on students if the new test leads to a wave of improvements in the way schools teach reading.

“We will grow,” predicted Pat Roschewski, director of assessments for the Nebraska Department of Education. “Teachers and administrators and curriculum people need to make sure that these kinds of skills are built into the teaching and learning.”

It’s a process that is already under way in the state’s school districts, and it will be repeated in the coming years as new statewide tests are introduced for math and science.

The new reading test, which more than 147,000 public school students took earlier this year, is based on more rigorous standards than the state used before. It also measures reading ability in a different way — one that is less likely to produce high marks.

“The educators in Nebraska have spoken about these being the expectations for all the kids in the state,” Roschewski said.

Under the state’s old system, districts developed their own reading tests to measure whether students met state standards. In some cases, districts were even allowed to substitute their own standards.

The new statewide test replaces the hodgepodge of reading tests and standards that made it hard to compare results from different school districts. But that’s not the only significant change.

The old system was based on testing various aspects of students’ reading skills, not their ability to pull it all together as accomplished readers.

District assessments during the year measured whether students could identify the main idea in a passage, read unfamiliar words, find the right resource for locating information, or simply demonstrate good listening skills. Those specific skill scores were combined to indicate the student’s overall performance.

The result was that students could meet the overall standards even if they fell short on some key skills.

For example, last year’s State of the Schools report concluded that 92 percent of Nebraska high school seniors met the overall reading standard. But only 54 percent of those youths met the standard for analyzing literature “to identify the stated or implied theme.”

The new 50-question, multiple-choice test focuses on standards related to reading comprehension and vocabulary. It leaves out some skills that districts have been testing.

The old system was like rating a soccer player based on whether he or she can dribble the ball or pass it accurately, said Ron Hanson, Papillion-La Vista’s assistant superintendent for curriculum. The new test, he said, tries to determine whether the player can actually perform in a game.

Carol Newton, Millard’s director of elementary education, said the test also is based on new reading standards that demand a higher level of thinking than the old standards.

“They’re more rigorous in critical thinking,” she said.

Some questions were intended to test a deeper level of knowledge, and the results indicate that students often struggled with them.

Among high school juniors, for example, the areas with the lowest performance included some of the toughest questions, such as requiring a student to critique an author’s use of stylistic and literary devices.

Roschewski said school officials should examine the test results to see what needs to be improved.

If a school’s students didn’t fare well in analyzing nonfiction passages, she said, the district might need to add more nonfiction to the curriculum. Or if students score low on making inferences, teachers may need to focus more on helping children learn to read between the lines.

Melissa Schroder, elementary reading curriculum consultant for the Omaha Public Schools, said the district updated its reading standards two years ago. She said elementary teachers already have begun to focus more on comprehension strategies, including making inferences.

Other districts have been making changes in the past year after learning of the state’s tougher requirements. And more adjustments will come now that the test results are in.

“We view any situation like this as an opportunity for improvement,” said Mark Feldhauser, Millard’s associate superintendent for educational services.

If those improvements happen, future tests are likely to show higher reading scores.

That’s what occurred with the state writing assessment.

In 2001, its first year, just 65 percent of eighth-graders statewide met the standard. But by 2009, eighth-grade writing was up to 95 percent, with many schools switching to structured writing programs that aligned with the state’s requirements.

Gains took place across the board but were most dramatic in districts such as OPS, with high percentages of students learning English or from low-income families. Such youths tend to score lower on achievement tests.

OPS officials were quick to note last week that the latest reading scores appeared to track closely with school poverty levels, which could help explain the district’s low scores. Nearly half of OPS students fell short of the reading standard.

But poverty hasn’t kept OPS students from doing better over time on the writing test. OPS has seen its writing scores for eighth-graders rise from 46 percent proficient in 2001 to 90 percent last year, substantially closing the gap with suburban districts.

World-Herald staff writer Michaela Saunders contributed to this report.

Contact the writer:

444-1114, paul.goodsell@owh.com

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