rah-rah

[George Sheridan <learn@jps.net>]

Tests get a rah-rah buildup
Schools try to pep up STAR season, as if it's a sports competition.
By Deepa Ranganathan -- Bee Staff Writer
Published Sunday, April 23, 2006
Story appeared in Metro section, Page B1
http://www.sacbee.com/content/news/story/14246927p-15064677c.html


Chris Hoffman paces back and forth in front of 25 teenagers in a classroom 
at Mira Loma High School.

"I have an issue," he says. "I'm a little bit competitive."

Sure, Mira Loma wins science awards and has a great swim team, says 
Hoffman, the school's principal. But it consistently ranks below several 
other San Juan Unified School District high schools on state achievement tests.

"What do you think I want to do this year?" he asks the students, smiling.

"Win!" a student cheers.

"Can we beat Bella Vista, El Camino and Rio?"

"Yeah!"

It used to be that lavish displays of school spirit were reserved for big 
athletic events. But football scores aren't the numbers schools most need 
to worry about. Under the federal No Child Left Behind law, schools face 
sanctions and public scrutiny if they fail to boost scores on state 
standardized tests.

Schools have thrown resources behind improving the reading and math skills 
for which they're held accountable. But targeting student apathy is just as 
important, many schools are finding.

In contrast to the high school exit exam, which students must pass to 
graduate, there's no individual student penalty for poor performance on the 
state STAR tests. Kids say it's easy to blow the tests off.

The solution? Drum up school spirit, turning preparation for the dreary 
STAR testing period in April and May into an enormous display of schoolwide 
mojo.

At Will Rogers Middle School in Fair Oaks, students raced through obstacle 
courses and downed raw tuna last week to earn tickets for a post-test 
celebration. At T.R. Smedberg Middle School in Sacramento, students 
lip-synced to a test-prep rap. Teachers at many schools pledged to 
cross-dress, drink disgusting milkshakes and humiliate themselves in other 
creative ways if kids showed up for the tests.

"If we have 10 or less absences every day, I told them I would shave my 
head bald," said Kirk Bebout, a physical education teacher at Rio Americano 
High School in Sacramento. "We have four male teachers on campus who are 
bald, and they will wear wigs."

School administrators have good reason to prod students to do better on the 
STAR tests, a set of exams in math, English language arts, science and 
social science that are tied to state standards. The tests, administered to 
students in grades 2 through 11 every year, are used to calculate each 
school's Academic Performance Index, a single number that's widely reported 
by the media and scrutinized by school-shopping parents.

If schools fail to meet state targets on the tests, they face sanctions 
under federal law. And certain kinds of categorical funding could be 
forfeited if students don't show improvement.

While the tests matter a lot to schools, they often don't matter much to 
the students who take them.

"You take five minutes, bubble bubble bubble, make a square or a heart, and 
you're done," said Hannah Bagh, a junior at Mira Loma who waited after 
school for a ride on Thursday. "We don't take it seriously. Royce, do you 
take it seriously?"

"No," said junior Royce Conley, drawing his finger down an imaginary 
Scantron sheet. "I just dial down the center."

Some teachers also harbor a less-than-positive attitude about the tests, 
which can consume up to 10 hours of class time over several days.

"The hardest sell is not the students, it's the teachers," said John Eick, 
a drama teacher at Natomas High School. "Teachers resent losing 
instructional time."

Eick, along with Natomas High leadership teacher Scott Pitts, developed 
what may have been the first "Starnival Countdown" five years ago in 
response to staff and student apathy. Since then, they've launched their 
own company, Education Wave, to help others turn the STAR tests into a 
homecoming-style event.

"Teenagers live by their image," he said. "When you say, 'People are 
talking about you based on how this was written up in the newspaper,' 
students understand that really well. It affects their reputation, and it 
affects their pride."

While many schools emphasize competition with neighboring schools, some 
also tell kids that blowing off any test shows disrespect for their own 
abilities. At T.R. Smedberg, eighth-grader Jamaal Jones says he once 
thought the tests were a stalling tactic that teachers whipped out when 
they hadn't prepared a lesson.

But his coach recently sat him down and told him his dreams of a football 
scholarship to USC would vaporize unless he got serious about school.

Jamaal got the message. Last week, he promised the school he would wear a 
wig all day if everyone tried their best on the STAR tests. Another boy 
then promised a day of Spandex pants.

On top of candy giveaways and carnival games, some schools hold assemblies 
to tell students the STAR tests do have personal consequences. Many use the 
tests to place kids in summer school and next year's classes.

At Mira Loma, Hoffman is offering himself up as a sacrifice. If the kids 
place in the top three high schools in the district, he swears he will sit 
in the dunk tank at the school's May carnival - wearing a suit.

He's won at least a few converts. Royce Conley, the boy who said he "dials 
down the center," confessed later that he wants to do his best. And James 
DeGrace, a senior, said taking the STAR test is no different from rooting 
for the school football team.

"I want to represent my school," he said. "I want to be on top of other 
schools."

About the writer: The Bee's Deepa Ranganathan can be reached at (916) 
321-1962 or dranganathan@sacbee.com.



George Sheridan