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Bridging the FCAT gap

Failing the test isn't always an accurate indicator of whether the child can read, Hillsborough educators find in a study of 61 African-American elementary school boys.

By LETITIA STEIN
Published January 2, 2006

TAMPA - True or false: A failing mark on the FCAT means a child can't read.

Hillsborough County educators wanted the answer. So they directed the question at African-American boys, a group that fails the test at significantly higher rates than other students.

The answer turned out to be false.

Understanding why could provide clues to one of education's most perplexing questions: Why do African-American boys consistently test at the bottom of the class?

This fall, Hillsborough educators turned their magnifying glass on 61 elementary school boys, all black, at both ends of the achievement gap. Their findings blasted assumptions that high failure rates are rooted in poverty, or result from families moving frequently.

The students failed because they too often answered from personal experience rather than the assigned reading. They lacked the vocabulary and analytical skills needed to pass the test.

"(Now) we have a sense of direction," said Grace Albritton, who supervises evaluation for Hillsborough schools. "I have seen new things in this study."

The unusual study was spurred by a reality troubling almost every Florida school district: Black students, and especially black males, are failing the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test at rates far higher than their white counterparts.

Two out of three African-American boys fail the third-grade FCAT, a Hillsborough analysis found in 2003. That compares to about one in four white boys. White girls did even better.

Most puzzling, teachers expected success from many of the failing black students.

"We really needed to get the story behind the numbers," said Cheryl Jones, who supervises Hillsborough's elementary reading coaches. "We needed to get a good look into their thinking, and even their feeling."

Researchers decided to look closely at a small number of black students, rather than crunch numbers for many. They selected mostly fourth-graders, all of them boys. The majority had failed the FCAT. A dozen had excelled.

One possibility at a time, teachers pried away at the reasons for failure. They found:

In the failing group, four out of five boys could read at grade level. But many of these students couldn't read as fast as the boys earning high marks.

Struggling students used their background knowledge when choosing answers. Successful boys had better test-taking skills, scanning between the text and questions.

Poverty, attendance rates and mobility - widely associated with poor performance in school - were not to blame for the problems of most of the boys in this study.

"We came in with assumptions, and we blew some of those assumptions away," said Susan Hazen, a reading coach at Mort Elementary School who was involved with the study. "Many of our kids could read on the surface level. They were unable to navigate the question and answer relationships."

Significantly, struggling students reported that they liked to read. This contradicted what their teachers thought - that they lacked interest.

The report urges teachers to motivate struggling students to read more. Failing students didn't read at home as frequently as successful classmates. They preferred comic books and magazines. Stronger students read historical fiction.

The study also encourages teachers to renew their focus on basics, such as vocabulary development.

Dorene Ross, a professor at the University of Florida's School of Teaching and Learning, has doubts about the report. She questions whether classroom instruction alone can narrow the achievement gap.

She is especially skeptical about the finding that poverty is not a major factor.

"We can maximize the school day, and that will help to narrow the gap, but not close it," said Ross, who had not read the report. "Schools alone will never solve the gap."

This is a new lesson for Laiti, who heard about the study and decided it was time to beef up the test-taking skills of her third-graders.

She begins by explaining the difference between "what" and "how" questions. Ideally, these lessons will teach students to think critically, and not just teach to the test.

"You have to break their code," Laiti tells the students. "The question starts with a question clue."

But Laiti admits frustration. Some of her students are still struggling with basic reading skills.

For today's lesson, she is using a book below the third grade reading level. And students aren't finding easy answers.

Kemus Warren and Danzell Rolle, both 9, work together on a worksheet. They read aloud about the westward journey of American pioneers.

They are asked to explain why pioneers sometimes walked on the trail. Kemus points to a picture of a covered wagon stuffed with belongings.

"They can't carry that," Kemus says. "I think they go far. I wouldn't go that far."

Neither child was part of the study, but like the boys who were, they have trouble separating what they read in class from their past experiences.

The coconut story illustrates the problem. A practice test states that coconuts can float. But many boys couldn't see the link between coconuts and other floating seeds.

Teachers pressed to understand why. The boys explained that they have seen and held coconuts, and they are heavy. They couldn't possibly float.

In everyday conversation, past experience plays a role. But on reading tests, the text holds the answers. Critical analysis is key.

Still, the discovery of clues - any clues - that could help solve the riddle of the achievement gap has stirred a buzz in Hillsborough and beyond.

This fall, when the study came out, Hillsborough reported the findings at a conference of the nation's largest urban school districts. Educators packed the room.

The county is planning a second study this spring of Hispanic boys. Nearly half failed the third-grade FCAT in 2003.

And no one's exactly sure why.

Letitia Stein can be reached at 661-2443 or lstein@sptimes.com

[Last modified January 2, 2006, 17:40:26]