Inland School Cutbacks May Cause Struggling Students to Slip Through Cracks

March 10, 2010

Some Inland school districts forced to reduce costs are cutting back on evaluations that measure how well students are grasping material.

The evaluations, known as benchmark assessments, help teachers identify areas in which children are struggling and might need additional assistance. Districts also use the results to find and address strengths and weaknesses in teaching.

Many educators believe the evaluations help ensure that students are learning and lead to better scores on state tests given each spring. But the assessments also demand teachers’ time and consume instructional hours — both of which could be in shorter supply next year because of the state budget crisis. This has made them a target for cutbacks.

The crisis is so severe that school districts must consider every area for cutting and face hard decisions, said Linda Childress, assistant superintendent for educational services for the Riverside County office of education.

School districts across the Inland area and the state are laying off teachers, boosting class sizes, shrinking the school year and closing campuses. In this climate, some school officials are questioning how they can continue the periodic evaluations in their current form.

"When we look at the costs, it’s relatively low. It’s more an issue of value for time spent," said Renee Hill, director of accountability and elementary education for the Riverside Unified School District. "Teachers see the value but are pressed for time."

Each district has its own system for the tests, but most give them several times each year in the form of paper-and-pencil exams, writing exercises or a child reading aloud to a teacher. They can be given at every grade — from kindergarten to 12th — and in all major subjects, particularly English/language arts and math.

Some districts are considering small changes, such as cutting one section or reducing the number of questions from 30 to 20.

heavy workloads

Temecula Valley Unified School District administrators and the teachers union agreed last month to review the district’s benchmark testing as part of a deal to save money.

Temecula faces as much as a $26 million budget shortfall in 2010-11. To reduce costs, the district is cutting about 150 teaching positions, shortening the school year by five days and increasing class sizes.

The larger classes and fewer days will affect the evaluations, teachers said. Reading exams, which are done one-on-one with the child reading aloud to the teacher, will be more difficult to complete with 25 students, rather than 20 in a class, said Mike Cruz, a second-grade teacher at French Valley Elementary School.

While listening to the reader, the teacher also must ensure the rest of the class is occupied and behaving, he said. The assessment can take 20 minutes or more, depending on the child’s reading ability. Teachers conduct three of these tests each year.

"That’s very time-consuming," Cruz said. "It’s just way too much."

Jodi McClay, Temecula Valley’s director of curriculum, instruction and assessment, said the district will form a committee in April or May to suggest changes. The assessments could be shortened or pieces of them eliminate d.

"Are there a couple (of assessments) at each grade level we could drop or combine? Let’s trim some fat, so to speak," she said.

The Corona-Norco Unified School District has suspended a round of its benchmark tests this school year as part of budget cuts, Assistant superintendent Tom Pike said. It’s too early to know how this will affect students and teachers, Pike said.

standing pat

Other school districts are vowing to stick with their programs, despite requests from some teachers to cut back.

The Lake Elsinore Unified School District began using the evaluations several years ago as part of an effort to get the district out of program improvement, a federal designation for failing schools that could lead to sanctions. The district has since exited that program after raising state test scores.

"Most teachers would say it could go now because we have other ways to do evaluations," teachers union President Terry Harris said of the practice. "Most of our teachers found they were doing (periodic evaluations) anyway."

But Lake Elsinore administrators say the program costs very little, about $41,000 per year, primarily for paper and copying costs, and the benefits are worth it.

The exams help ensure that students throughout the school district are learning the same things and all the required material, said Alain Guevara, executive director for instructional support services.

In Lake Elsinore, the tests are given four times a year and each round is assigned a color. At the end of each round, Cindy Metheny, a fourth-grade teac her at Railroad Canyon Elementary School, throws a party featuring that color.

This month she threw a pink party at lunchtime, with pink ice cream, pink lemonade and pink grapefruit among the treats. The parties motivate students — all those who tested scored well enough to earn admission to the party — but they also understand the importance of the tests.

"It’s to see if we’re ready for fifth grade," said Beatrice Diep, 9.

Lake Elsinore officials say the district’s overall academic improvement shows the program’s value.

"The end result is it’s good for kids," Guevara said. "Would I want to change what we’re doing and go in a different direction? No, because it’s working."