For students, incentives to score higher on tests
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BY Cristina Kumka STAFF WRITER - Published: October 19, 2009
It's a Rutland High School junior's dream — no finals, free parking, lunchtime off campus and other senior privileges.
In spring, when New England Common Assessment Program test results are known, the dream could become a reality for some students, according to Dan Wigmore, the student liaison to the Rutland School Board and chairman of RHS's student executive board.
Rutland Public Schools administrators agreed to offer three major incentives to students in 11th grade who score higher in math and reading on their NECAPs — the result of research and recommendations made by Wigmore and members of the Student Senate.
The juniors who took the tests last week knew what the rewards could be going in, Wigmore said.
Putting math and English final exams on the chopping block has resulted in students studying more and scoring higher at Essex High School and has fostered more interest in exams that don't determine pass or fail or college acceptance.
Wigmore said he expects incentives to work in Rutland, too.
"It's how the state determines how well the school is doing in educating their students," Wigmore said. "Before, it was hard to make a 17-year-old care about a test that doesn't affect them personally."
Since 2005, Vermont students have been taking NECAPs, a series of reading, writing, math and science achievement tests, administered annually, developed in collaboration with the Rhode Island and New Hampshire departments of education, according to the Vermont Department of Education.
According to the state, the tests pin students' knowledge against state standards for achievement and scores are reported on numbered scale of 1 to 4 — proficient with distinction (4), proficient (3), partially proficient (2) and substantially below proficient (1).
Reading and math are assessed in grades 3 to 8 and 11, writing is assessed in grades 5, 8 and 11, and science is assessed in grades 4, 8 and 11.
The reading, math and writing tests are administered each year in October and juniors at Rutland High finished their exams on Thursday.
Rutland High School entered its third year of corrective action in March after some students didn't get better math and reading scores.
According to results released by the state at the time, the students were part of the school's estimated 30 percent of students who receive free or reduced-price lunch.
Statewide, 88 schools, out of a total 306, failed meet to annual yearly progress standards this year in math and reading — down from 116 this year.
Superintendent Mary Moran said she was proud of the Senate's research and is willing to give the experiment a shot.
If juniors get a score of 3 or 4, they get senior privileges all year, such as lunch off campus or a late pass, and become exempt from either a math or reading final exam if they so choose.
A score of 3 warrants a half-priced parking pass — usually $25 — and score of 4 gets students a free pass, Wigmore said.
And if students increase their scores by a certain increment — at least five points or more — they get all three incentives, he said.
"We want to have the kids be fully engaged and although the tests are individual, in terms of reporting … it's about school performance," Moran said Friday.
Moran said students, in the past, have asked, "Why should I have to work so hard on this?"
"It's a good exercise that may have good results for individual kids and perhaps kids taking the tests more seriously," Moran said.
cristina.kumka@rutlandherald.com
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