State ending initiative to help high schoolers graduate Intensive summer classes meant to boost proficiency test scores didn't achieve results Friday, June 30, 2006 • BY JOHN MOONEY • Star-Ledger Staff When New Jersey first moved two years ago to scrap its controversial alternative high school test, state officials said they would try some new ways to help students who would otherwise need the easier test to graduate. Included was a program tried in five districts -- including Jersey City, Hillside and Franklin -- in which students took intensive summer classes in language arts or math, with the hope that would be enough to get the students to graduation their senior year. But two years later, while the alternative test -- known as the Special Review Assessment -- remains on the chopping block, the summer experiment has fallen by the wayside and won't be offered again this year, officials said this week. State officials said the program was a victim of its lackluster results in the last two years and a new administration that is putting its stock in broader school reforms. "We just didn't see the results," said acting Education Commissioner Lucille Davy. "I'm not sure that in six weeks (of summer classes), we can fill in all the gaps ... The challenge is much greater than that." The $700,000-a-year summer programs were just a piece in the state's plan to phase out the SRA, the untimed, open-ended assessment taken by those who fail either the math or language arts sections of the standard High School Proficiency Assessment. Critics have called the SRA an easy detour around the HSPA, passed by virtually every student who completes it. New Jersey students must pass the HSPA or, at last resort, the SRA to graduate. Last year, about 15 percent of the state's high school graduates needed the SRA to gain their diplomas. In many urban high schools, the rate topped 50 percent and, in some cases, 70 percent or more. So, under a plan approved by the state board of education, next fall's incoming freshmen will no longer have the SRA as a fallback for language arts. The SRA will be eliminated in math for the freshman class after that. But the state has yet to determine what -- if any -- process will be in store for those who fail the HSPA, and worries have mounted that drop-out rates are sure to rise without the safety net. Former education commissioner William Librera proposed a couple of steps two years ago, including an appeals process for students who can show in their grades and attendance that they are equal to those passing the HSPA. Summer remediation and other extra programs starting as young as ninth grade were to provide still more help. Hillside High School was among the summer programs piloted for the last two summers, first in both language arts and math and last year in only math. And while the program helped some pass the HSPA, Superintendent Raymond Bandlow conceded that it had its limits, especially around math. Reflecting the statewide numbers, just nine of the 44 Hillside students getting math help in the first summer were able to go on and pass the HSPA. The language arts numbers were far better, with 20 of 28 going on to pass. Last summer's numbers for math weren't much better, Bandlow said. "By the time they are in 11th or 12th grade, it's going to take more than six weeks to make it up," Bandlow said. "No matter how rich or intensive the program, it can't make up for what wasn't learned over 11 years." Yet he wasn't giving up on the idea that students will still need some alternatives to the HSPA. "There has to be a recognition that a substantial number of students aren't going to be able to pass the more rigorous test," he said. "And what do we do, just throw them out? You put your bet on higher standards, you are still going to need a fallback." Arnold Hyndman, the state board of education president, said he wasn't surprised by the program's demise, either, given its results. But he also stressed that the board will insist that alternative and remediation programs still be provided. "Elimination of a single program doesn't mean we have abandoned our objective," he said. "The board took the position that we weren't going to dictate what is the best way to go, only that there are opportunities available to help these children." John Mooney covers education. He may be reached at jmooney@starledger.com, or (973) 392-1548. © 2006 The Star-Ledger. Used by NJ.com with permission.