Schools watch achievement gap

Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools are investigating why some groups of students perform better than others on their first attempts on end-of-grade tests.

A high percentage of both black and Hispanic students are forced to retake the tests after not demonstrating grade-level proficiency, according to the district's annual proficiency report.

Students in grades five through eight are required to take the state-provided exams.

The district's report states that the greatest number of students retaking the test were black. Hispanic students also retook tests at a higher rate than white students.

Diane Villwock, district testing director, said administrators are pleased with the fact that the percentage of black students who pass the retest is close to the average of all students who pass it.

"It appears the academic effort is working, because students are passing the next week," Villwock said.

But they are not satisfied with the high number of minority students who require retesting.

"The goal during the year is to get everyone proficient on the first test," said Kim Hoke, spokeswoman for city schools.

Villwock could not specify why more minority students failed to demonstrate proficiency on the first test than other groups but said this achievement gap is shrinking.

She said the problem is psychological or motivational rather than academic, as students do not receive extra preparation between the first test and the retest.

Large class sizes and a lack of comfort in a test environment could contribute to the performances of students who fail the first test.

"It's a process," Villwock said. "By the end, almost everyone is proficient. But it would save headaches and resources if (students) were proficient the first time."

Villwock said that last year, administrators tried unsuccessfully to determine why a number of students do not demonstrate proficiency until they take the second test.

Officials are attempting to reduce that number by looking at school-by-school data.

They are comparing schools to identify why students at some are more proficient on the first test.

Josephine Harris, district director of special programming, said officials are also optimistic about the role played by the schools' dual language immersion program in increasing proficiency among some minorities.

"One of the problems is that schools are doing so many things to try to increase proficiency that it's hard to say which is actually working," said Villwock. "There's a laundry list of things schools are doing."

Efforts to decrease the need for retesting include allowing students to take another version of the test earlier in the year to familiarize them with the testing process.

Hoke said schools are also focused on closing the achievement gap for minorities by offering numerous resources, including mentor and after-school tutoring, to increase proficiency.

Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.