FWCS Below State Average on ISTEP Science Scores

By Sheena Dooley, The News-Sentinel, Fort Wayne, Ind.

Mar. 29–Only 42 percent of Fort Wayne Community Schools’ seventh-graders passed Indiana’s standardized science test, making it the only school district in Allen County to fall below the state average.

Statewide, 52 percent of seventh-graders passed the science portion of the ISTEP+ they took in September, according to results released Tuesday by the Indiana Department of Education. East Allen County Schools’ scores matched the state average while those from Southwest Allen County Schools and Northwest Allen County Schools far exceeded it, at 73 and 78 percent, respectively. This was the first year the state required all seventh-graders to take the science test.

“Urban districts typically have scores that are lower than the state average,” said John Kline, FWCS’ director of school improvement. “It’s up to us to see what we can do to raise those numbers over the next couple of years.”

The state released English and math scores on the ISTEP+ for grades 3-10 in December. The seventh- grade science scores took longer to compile because state officials had to set the standards that determined whether students’ scores met muster. These scores serve as a baseline, which means educators will use them to better align what they teach to what is tested, Kline said.

Among local districts, Geyer Middle School did the poorest, with only 17 percent of students posting passing scores. Students at FWCS’ Miami Middle School and EACS’ Prince Chapman Academy also struggled, with only 29 and 23 percent, respectively, passing. Kline attributed the lower scores at Geyer and Miami to their large numbers of students from low-income families.

“Those kids may have learned a lot of science (at school),” Kline said. “But if it wasn’t the science that was on the test, the chances are they aren’t going to do as well. They may not have many opportunities to learn science outside of the school day.”

EACS Superintendent Kay Novotny partly attributed the low scores at Prince Chapman to the same thing, but said the largest reason stemmed from a past emphasis on reading and math. A majority of Prince Chapman’s students come from Meadowbrook, Village and Southwick elementary schools, also the district’s three Title I schools. They qualify for federal assistance because of their high numbers of low-income students and are required to do an assessment of students’ needs, Novotny said.

“Those needs assessments would support we need to work in those two areas (reading and math),” Novotny said. “Now that the state is being very specific in other content areas, we will have to take a closer look at those.”

Scores at Maple Creek and Carroll middle schools, both in NACS, were the highest in the county. At Maple Creek, 80 percent of seventh-graders passed the test, while 78 percent at Carroll did.

Parochial schools

Statewide, parochial school seventh-graders, for the most part, scored higher than their public school counterparts. Locally, 72 percent of students at schools in the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend passed the science portion of the ISTEP+. Statewide, the Lutheran Schools of Indiana boasted a 76 percent passing rate.

Emmanuel St. Michael and Woodburn Lutheran students scored the highest locally, with 94 and 92 percent passing, respectively. Benoit Academy posted the lowest scores among area parochial schools, with only 29 percent of its students passing.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The News-Sentinel, Fort Wayne, Ind.

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