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School District Settles Over English Testing

Darlene Lim of the Association of Chinese Teachers (center) smiles with fourth-grader Elizabeth Vasquez (left), and first-grader Meagan Lee. Lim fears that testing limited-English students may put them through unnecessary stress and pressure. Photo by Joseph Hong.

Teachers fear exams will intimidate limited-English speaking students

By Joseph Hong

A second grade student who arrived in the United States less than a year ago with hardly any English skills is asked to take a classroom exam. The test begins and all the children start to fill in the scantron bubbles. The one student, though, becomes frustrated and embarrassed. The teacher attempts to comfort her and eventually tells her to “put your head down and just rest till the test is over.”

This is the scenario some teachers fear as the San Francisco school district gave up its court battle last week to exempt limited-English students from the state-mandated Stanford 9 achievement test, which is used to rank schools in comprehension and analytical skills.

“There are kids who actually cry …” said one Sunnyvale second grade teacher who requested anonymity. “It’s not fair, it’s a waste of time for these kids,” she said. “They may have the analytical skills, which they are testing for but they just aren’t fluent in English yet to answer the questions.”

Results of the Settlement An out-of-court settlement between the San Francisco Unified School District and the state school board has provided the following criteria for testing limited-English students: • Test scores alone will not be used against districts as part of accountability programs; districts facing sanctions solely because of low scores will be able to get waivers from the state. • The state also agree to relax a rule designed to prevent teachers from raising scores by influencing parents of low-performing students to sign waivers exempting them from the test. Teachers were prohibited from speaking to parents about the tests’ financial impact or educational value. Now, the state has agreed that teachers and parents can discuss the tests and decide together on the waivers. • The state agrees not to use poor scores against students when deciding whether they qualify for honors courses or special programs.

The San Francisco Unified School District was the only district in California that defied the state school board and exempted students with less than 30 months of English instruction from taking the Stanford 9 test given to students in grades two through 11 each spring.

As a result, some 5,400 students in the city have never been tested.

However, last Thursday the cash-strapped SFUSD signed an agreement with the state school board to test these students. In return, the district will be eligible for at least $640,000 the state withheld for not testing last year.

The Stanford Achievement Test Edition 9 is the only statewide mandatory exam given to schoolchildren. It covers reading, writing, math, and in the higher levels, history, science and social science as well.

It was given last spring to 4.4 million public school students, which was the second year California students took the test.

It’s a high-stakes exercise for schools as well as for students, since the state uses the results to reward successful schools and identify low-performing ones.

Cash funding is awarded to school districts based on meeting certain goals in test scores from one year to the next. Struggling schools that show academic progress are eligible for rewards of up to $150 per pupil and $1,600 per staff member.

But under the new agreement, the scores of students with less than 30 months English instruction will not be factored in the overall score of the district for potential cash awards.

State school officials have been saying that testing is the only way for school districts to be accountable for ensuring the success of every student.

“We don’t think that the test is harmful [to students] … It has always been our stance that we should test where they are academically in English … The only outcome may be additional remedial classes, which in the long term is very positive,” said Rae Belisle, staff counsel for the State Board of Education.

Some students may still be exempted if their parents request that they not take the test and the children meet certain requirements. But parents may not know their rights since the agreement states that “the school district and its employees shall not solicit or encourage any written exemption request on behalf of any child or group of children.”

Darlene Lim, president of the Association of Chinese Teachers and teacher at Gordon J. Lau Elementary School in Chinatown, said testing these children may put unwarranted pressure on them.

“When it is shown that students have weaknesses in certain skills, the parents push them on that … they become very anxious because of that. They feel pressure to raise the test scores because so much attention had been given to it.”