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12/21/12 DOOMSDAY
Mounds View
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Friday, December 21, 2012
Volume 60, Issue 6
GRAD math test status: disputed by PHOEBE KE staff reporter Nearly one-third of Minnesota’s current sophomores may not graduate from high school in 2015 because they won’t be ready to pass the state’s Graduation-Required Assessments for Diploma (GRAD) test for math. The Minnesota Department of Education has convened a task force to search for an alternative to this test. The five-year waiver, which had allowed students who failed the test three times to still graduate, is expiring soon. A statewide group of parents, school officials, teachers, and business leaders, recently suggested 12 recommendations to improve the state’s standardized test requirements. One recommendation was to eliminate and replace the GRAD tests with a new set of comprehensive tests beginning in eighth grade, which would include math, reading, writing, and/or science, according to the committee meeting draft. One proposed alternative is the ACT test. Associate Principal Doug Bullinger said, “The ACT definitely gives us a lot more information about where are students struggling, where do students need a little bit more help.” Some would prefer that the GRAD test remain. Jim Bartholomew, education policy director at Minnesota Business Partnership, a group that helps shape Minnesota’s current education system, believes dropping the GRAD test would be “a disservice to high school students.” “Some people argue that it’s more fair to students to give them a diploma even though they’re not ready,” he said. “We would argue that it’s more ‘fair’ to students to help them while they’re in the K-12 system.” Bartholomew is concerned about an alternative. “Replacing the GRAD with something like those ACT exams would probably be passed and then the question will be: do we set minimal expectations for students to graduate or not?” Mounds View’s passing rate is higher than the state average. The class of 2012 had a first-try passing rate of 83.9 percent, while the state’s rate was 57.7 percent. Mounds View math teachers ensure that students who do not pass the math GRAD test on their first try receive the remediation they need. Math teacher Leah Higginbotham believes there is a need for graduation requirements. “I think we need to have something because right now it’s three math credits as a graduation requirement, but the actual knowledge base is important, too. I think they definitely need to have some sort of standards.”
photo by Ben Kaiser and Megan Ruan
Engaging students in reading by TRISTAN ASCHITTINO and PETER OLSON business manager and news editior Mounds View’s reading test scores have flat-lined in recent years, and teachers speculate it’s because teenagers are no longer reading for pleasure, thanks to technological distractions and busy schedules. The other problem is that students sometimes do not read the entire assignments, and instead, according to Spanish teacher Laura Rivers, just “scan for answers.” District administration is focusing on increasing reading ability and trying to stop it from becoming a tedious task. Over the summer, the district administration encouraged teachers to read Kelly Gallagher’s book, Readicide: How Schools Are Killing Reading and What You Can Do About It. Gallagher criticizes many schools for their lack of effort in teaching kids to be independent readers. Schools say they care about student reading, but they only care about increasing average scores on standardized tests. The book pushes for more in-class, independent reading time and presents studies showing correlations between time spent on independent weekly reading and reading test scores. Rivers was part of a group that read and discussed Readicide,
which was offered as a way to earn “clock hours” for teacher license renewal. The book had a lasting impact on the group. The teachers discussed many aspects of the book, including how to better engage kids in reading. “We talked about ways to get kids more interested in reading,” she said. Rivers believes strongly in pleasure reading. As a child, she remembers being immersed with books. “I had a ton of books around me,” said Rivers. “My parents encouraged me to read what I wanted.” According to Librarian Becky Stouten, one of the leaders of the Readicide group, one way to help students read more is “trying to integrate more reading time into classroom time.” River states that having time set aside for reading in school will make students read more. “By physically having a reading material, it helps students read,” she said. However, it is most important for students to read what intrigues them during that time. If many students were given free time outside of school, they would only devote a small fraction of their time to reading. “I would probably use about 10 percent of my time reading,” said Sam
Mastenbrook, 11. Teachers are trying to get students more engaged in their reading by promoting in-depth and free discussions of the book. English teachers Bethany DeCent and Shannon Belland have implemented a literature circle this year for the story, The Book Thief. In a literature circle, each student is given a specific task, such as researching the context of the novel, defining vocabulary, and coming up with context questions. DeCent likes how engaging it is. “Literature circles are very engaging and focus on including reading, writing, and discussion,” said DeCent. “So far, it seems students are very engaged in the process as they rotate their parts every week and discuss the various chapters of the book.” Ultimately, according to Rivers, if students are to become better readers and read more, then they must have the desire to do so. “If you want to be a good reader, you have to read,” said Rivers. “We forgot that at some point, you need to want to read.”