'Last
chance' school exam on way out
Educators back plan to end SRA,
but alternatives are up for debate
Thursday, August 04, 2005 • BY JOHN MOONEY •
Star-Ledger Staff
After years of debate, New Jersey
educators took a major step yesterday to end the state's
alternative high school exam that has been decried as a
"back door" to a diploma for thousands of students every
year.
The state board of education unanimously
backed a resolution to start phasing out the Special Review
Assessment, beginning with the freshman class of
2006-07.
Though supporters of the alternative
assessment won a one-year delay on the phaseout, debate
looms ahead over what options will be available for those
failing the standard high school exit exam.
Last year, nearly 20 percent of all
graduates needed the SRA to get their degrees, a rate that
climbed to typically 50 percent or more in urban high
schools.
But following a 2002 Star-Ledger series
that exposed abuses and failings of the SRA, state Education
Commissioner William Librera pressed to kill the assessment.
Although he wanted to start the phase out immediately,
yesterday he claimed a victory in one of his last acts as
commissioner.
"While this is not exactly as I would
have hoped, this is a huge step forward," said Librera, who
is resigning in September to take a post as Rutgers'
Graduate School of Education.
The SRA was first devised in 1985 as an
option for students who struggled with the pressure of the
traditional tests, but it grew to become far more than a
last resort.
Given to those who fail either the math
or language arts sections of the High School Proficiency
Assessment, the SRA is a series of untimed exercises and
essays that are administered in class over the course of
weeks, if not months.
But with numbers climbing, the SRA drew
criticism as less rigorous than the HSPA and open to abuse,
including teachers coaching students as they take the tests.
The state conducted little monitoring of the process to
ensure its integrity and virtually every student passes the
SRA process.
Even supporters of the special review
conceded changes were needed. Newark schools have been at
the center of the debate, where two of the city's high
schools saw 80 percent of their graduates getting diplomas
through SRA.
Under pressure over its reliance on the
SRA, the district developed a new process that will require
students in danger of failing the HSPA to go through extra
tutorial, starting this summer.
"We knew there was a looseness in the
SRA, and we ourselves are changing the process," said
Superintendent Marion Bolden.
But Bolden stressed the state still must
have some alternative for students to prove themselves
beyond the HSPA. She pointed to hundreds of her graduates
who require the SRA each year and still go on to successful
college experiences.
"Not having that opportunity would be a
travesty," Bolden said.
Under the resolution approved yesterday,
the language arts SRA would be the first to be phased out,
for the 2006 freshman class. The math SRA would be phased
out for the next freshman class, with state officials
conceding the challenge of raising math performance will
likely take longer.
But the alternative to the SRA remains a
bone of contention among board members and state officials,
possibly jeopardizing yesterday's action
altogether.
Librera's proposal is that students get
intensive summer help after they first fail the HSPA, as
well as earlier intervention for those failing state tests
in the younger grades. In addition, students will get four
chances to pass the HSPA starting in the fall of junior
year. They currently have three opportunities.
Those still failing after four tries
would have a last chance of appeal to the commissioner,
based on their school attendance and grade point average.
They would also need to have participated in the remedial
programs.
But board members said they must be
assured that extra programs are not just promises on paper
but available in districts needing them. And they said the
proposed appeals process will have to be clarified before
they remove the SRA from law.
"The board is expressing its intent not
to change until there is an alternative in place," said
Arnold Hyndman, the board's president. "There is the
possibility there will be further delays."
Hyndman said he was particularly worried
that the appeals process as proposed may be too
soft.
"It has to be more than, 'I went to
class, can I get a high school diploma?'" Hyndman said after
the meeting.
Librera said he was confident the appeals
process would be legitimate in itself, pointing to a similar
system in Massachusetts where a tougher high school test,
with a state appeal, was phased in.
"They did it over four years there, and
each year more and more kids passed the test," he
said.
Librera asked that the department have a
full appeals proposal back to the board by October, a month
after he leaves office. Librera's successor has yet to be
named, although Deputy Commissioner Richard Rosenberg is
expected to fill the post.
"There has got to be a resolution to this
in a timely way," Librera said to the board after its vote
on the resolution. "I would hope there is an urgency not
lost here that something must change."
John Mooney covers education. He may be reached at
jmooney@starledger.com, or (973) 392-1548.
© 2005 The Star-Ledger. Used by NJ.com with
permission.
|