Schools face tough tests in Senate education bill

By Alice Keesing
Advertiser Education Writer

Hawai'i educators are anxiously watching President Bush's education bill, which passed the Senate yesterday with a clause requiring yearly math and reading tests for millions of schoolchildren.

Both the House and Senate have supported the groundbreaking legislation, handing Bush a major bipartisan victory. Aside from money differences and the elimination of a voucher program, both House and Senate bills leave most of Bush's education plan intact.

"Education is the No. 1 priority in this country today," said Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D. "We showed we can come together on an issue of import."

The groundbreaking legislation includes sweeping initiatives to boost school accountability. The most significant is a new mandate for schools to test students in grades three through eight. Schools will receive help and then, ultimately, sanctions if they continue to fall behind.

"With this vote, we take the next step toward changing the culture of education from compliance to performance," Education Secretary Rod Paige said.

The final version of the bill still must be hashed out in Washington, but Hawai'i education officials are concerned they will end up bound by legislation that is costly, time-consuming and of minimal use to local schools.

"There are major concerns, not just in Hawai'i but nationwide, as to whether or not there's even the capacity to expand testing that heavily," said Department of Education spokesman Greg Knudsen. "And then, the testing alone may not be as troubling as what this will lead to. It's always coupled with the idea of identifying schools that are making the mark and those who aren't, and then eventually cutting off federal support."

Students may transfer

Under the Senate bill, schools with low test scores would receive additional aid, but if a school failed to show enough progress after two years, low-income students would be free to transfer to another public school. After three years, the same students would be permitted to use federal money for tutoring or transportation to another public school.

Another major concern is the price tag. It is still unclear if the order for additional testing will come with the money to pay for it. It already costs the state DOE about $1.2 million to test students in grades 3, 5, 8 and 10.

"By expanding it to all grades three through eight, the cost really balloons rapidly," said Selvin Chin-Chance, the department's testing expert.

Chin-Chance and others hope the new federal legislation will dovetail with the department's own overhaul of Hawai'i schools. The reform includes revised education standards, a new Hawai'i-based test, and measures to hold schools accountable for student progress.

The ultimate impact of the federal bill will lie in the details, Chin-Chance said. One unanswered question is if states will be able to use their own tests or a new national test. Hawai'i students have traditionally struggled in national testing comparisons.

"What we would hope is that since it is going to be a mandated program that there is sufficient flexibility built into it so that it doesn't interfere with what we're doing at the state level," he said. "If they don't give us the flexibility, we could be headed to a mess."

Federal scrutiny

Ma'ili Elementary Principal Linda Victor said that if the money is available and the test is relevant to Hawai'i students, it can be a valuable tool. Her school already tests students' reading skills every year.

"It tells us whether we're doing something right or wrong, whether we're using the right kinds of materials, and if we're doing OK," she said. "It lets us know right away which kids are not meeting the benchmarks ... and that way we can use our money better."

As principal of one of Hawai'i's so-called "poverty schools," Victor already is familiar with federal scrutiny under the Title I program that is similar to the new proposed legislation. Title I money is available to Hawai'i schools with more than 50 percent of their students qualifying for the free- and reduced-price lunch program. The money is intended to give the schools a boost to improve academic performance. In return, they must show "adequate yearly progress."

But that progress has been elusive for the majority of Hawai'i's Title I schools. In the 1999-2000 school year, 100 of 147 Title I schools failed to meet adequate yearly progress, and 86 schools were labeled "in need of improvement" after falling short of the mark for two years running. Forty-three of them are labeled in need of corrective action for failing to meet the mark for five years.

Elaine Takenaka, who administers the Title I program for the DOE, believes the work of the past few years is starting to pay off and schools are slowly starting to improve.

"I truly believe that we've made that turning of the tide," she said.

Still, the track record leads some to be doubly concerned about how Hawai'i will fare under the new wave of federal legislation.

"It will be an averaging of the nation as a whole and, when it comes to averages, we aren't average," Knudsen said. "We're just off the chart on so many different comparisons, (such as) minorities and poverty and things that are generally seen as having an influence on test scores that are basically outside of the school's control."

Unresolved issues

Experts at the national level also are debating how to fairly measure school progress. One of the thorniest unresolved issues is how to determine when a school is failing and should face federal sanctions. Under the House definition, which requires all students to achieve proficiency in 12 years — regardless of race, ethnicity, income, disability status or English proficiency — most schools would fail, administration officials have said.

The Senate standard, which requires these demographic subgroups to increase their passing rate by 1 percent a year, is so complicated that critics argue average PTA members will not understand it.

While Victor sees benefits from annual testing, the possibility of students being able to transfer away if test scores don't rise does trouble her.

"I'm having a difficult time reckoning with that because it may mean we lose staff ... and we would have to condense classes," she said.

Victor also worries that allowing parents to move children from failing schools may not be feasible in Hawai'i.

"Parents may not realize with the geographic exception procedure it may be really difficult for them to find a school of choice," Victor said. "If they can't accommodate kids, they can't take them. I'm sure a lot of people want to go to the Kapolei schools because they're nice and new, they're air-conditioned. And then when people cannot have the schools of their choice, they're going to be angry."

Meanwhile, the Senate version of the education bill passed yesterday after a bumpy, last-minute detour into the emotionally charged issue of the Boy Scouts and homosexuality.

Tumultuous debate

The final vote came after a day of tumultuous debate over a push by Jesse Helms, R-N.C., to yank federal money from any school that denies Boy Scouts access to school facilities. It passed 51-49.

Around the country, school districts, philanthropic groups and local governments have chosen to sever ties with the Boy Scouts in the wake of last year's ruling by the Supreme Court upholding the Scouts' right to exclude gays and lesbians from membership and leadership positions.

Lawmakers sought to temper Helms' provision by endorsing a proposal by Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., that would open schools to a wide range of youth groups, including gay student groups and the Boy Scouts. It passed 52-47.

The House and Senate bills also would:

• Provide more money for charter schools.

• Provide money to help schools form partnerships with colleges and universities to improve science and math instruction.

• Require schools to develop report cards that show a school's test scores compared to others locally and statewide.

• Provide nearly $1 billion per year for next five years to improve reading, with a goal of making sure every youngster can read by third grade.

The Senate bill authorizes $33 billion for elementary and secondary education in 2002. The House bill authorizes $24 billion.

Sandy Kress, Bush's education policy adviser, said Bush would urge Congress to finish the legislation before lawmakers leave Washington for a month-long break in August.

Said Paige: "It would be really delightful if we could get the information (to school officials) before they begin the arduous task of starting school" in September.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.