teach1st
08-01-2005, 05:36 AM
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/31/AR2005073100959.html
Stagnant reading scores among middle school students in Maryland and Virginia have caught the attention of educators, who are starting to target literacy programs at adolescents after years of focusing mostly on younger children.
In Maryland, one-third of seventh-graders failed the state's reading test this year, about the same number as last year. Reading scores among sixth- and eighth-graders rose at about half the rate of scores in elementary grades.
"We are not happy with what's happening in middle school," said State Superintendent of Schools Nancy S. Grasmick. "People are doing the analysis of the data and saying, 'Hey, what's wrong here?' "
In Virginia, 32 percent of eighth-graders failed a state reading test last year. Thirty-four percent failed in 2003; 31 percent in 2002 and 27 percent in 2001.
The state's reading initiatives mainly have targeted elementary schools.
"Clearly, we need to shift some of that focus to the middle school years," said Charles Pyle, a Virginia Department of Education spokesman. "Or at least broaden the focus."
New data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, billed as the nation's report card, show that the typical 13-year-old could read no better in the 2003-04 school year than the student's counterpart five years earlier. Nine-year-olds, however, showed significant gains.
Read more (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/31/AR2005073100959.html)
Stagnant reading scores among middle school students in Maryland and Virginia have caught the attention of educators, who are starting to target literacy programs at adolescents after years of focusing mostly on younger children.
In Maryland, one-third of seventh-graders failed the state's reading test this year, about the same number as last year. Reading scores among sixth- and eighth-graders rose at about half the rate of scores in elementary grades.
"We are not happy with what's happening in middle school," said State Superintendent of Schools Nancy S. Grasmick. "People are doing the analysis of the data and saying, 'Hey, what's wrong here?' "
In Virginia, 32 percent of eighth-graders failed a state reading test last year. Thirty-four percent failed in 2003; 31 percent in 2002 and 27 percent in 2001.
The state's reading initiatives mainly have targeted elementary schools.
"Clearly, we need to shift some of that focus to the middle school years," said Charles Pyle, a Virginia Department of Education spokesman. "Or at least broaden the focus."
New data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, billed as the nation's report card, show that the typical 13-year-old could read no better in the 2003-04 school year than the student's counterpart five years earlier. Nine-year-olds, however, showed significant gains.
Read more (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/31/AR2005073100959.html)