Low scores prompt change in exam procedures

By Jennifer Eisenbart

Staff Writer

The Burlington Area School District is ready to close the chapter on its 2011 Wisconsin Knowledge and Concept Exam scores.

That doesn’t mean, however, that the district didn’t learn a few lessons from lower-than-expected test scores.

Last year, the WKCE exams were given in November. For eighth-graders and 10th-graders, that meant taking the standardized tests after taking the EXPLORE and PLAN tests – ACT pre-testing that the district is trying to switch to in order to more accurately map progress and put fixes into place.

That testing schedule – and the burnout it caused among students – was one of many issues that BASD Assistant Superintendent Connie Zinnen touched on Monday night in a presentation to the BASD Curriculum Committee.

“We are not complacent,” said Zinnen, who made the hour-long presentation with help from Superintendent Peter Smet and Burlington High School Principal Eric Burling.

“There is evidence that we have not been complacent,” she added.

The WKCE scores have long been a source of frustration for the district. The tests are givin in November, and then results do not become available to the district until May.

As a result, the district could not effectively deal with any deficiencies discovered through the exam in that school year.

When now-former BASD Superintendent David Moyer arrived two years ago, he suggested two different testing methods – the ACT suite (which includes the EXPLORE, PLAN, ACT and ACT Work Keys for the non-college bound students) as well as Measures of Academic Progress (or MAP) testing.

This year’s WKCE scores showed a marked drop, with BASD above the state average in only 13 of 23 possible areas – which include reading and math at grades 3-8 and grade 10, and language arts, social studies and science in grades 4, 8 and 10.

However, when school improvement plans were presented at the curriculum meeting in June, all principals expressed that the MAP testing had shown improvements, and at high school level, students took the WKCE within days of completing the PLAN test – which staff at the school had placed the emphasis on.

The lower scores drew the ire of School Board member Phil Ketterhagen, who used the scores to criticize teaching efforts within the district, and said that a zero-percent pay raise could be the best way to catch the attention of teachers, whom he compared to stubborn livestock.

The comments later drew a censure from the School Board, but Ketterhagen listened intently to Monday’s presentation, accepting the explanations of what had happened – and then asked how he should measure progress.

“What criteria should I, as a School Board member, look at?” he asked. “What should I start looking at?”

Zinnen pointed out that the WKCE testing was just one tool of measuring student growth, and pointed to the other testing process, as well as work in the classrooms.

A large part of Zinnen’s presentation focused on the testing procedures and how the district planned on improving the testing environment this fall.

In particular, Burling has changed how 10th graders will approach both the PLAN and WKCE tests later this fall.

Testing for the PLAN will happen before fall break, and when students return, they will attend a pep rally of sorts – one designed to refocus them on testing and what successful test-taking procedures are, said Burling.

The WKCE will then be administered in extended advisory periods Nov. 5-8 and Nov. 12-15. Those advisory classes are about 20 or so per classroom, compared to the large testing environments used last fall, like the gymnasium and the auditorium.

Zinnen also made a point of listing some of the other procedures used by Southern Lakes Conference schools when they administered the WKCEs, specifically talking to staff at Westosha Central, Waterford, Union Grove, Elkhorn, Wilmot and Badger high schools.

Among other items, five of the six schools offer an incentive program that students can be exempt from final exams if they test out at a certain proficiency level in that given subject (science, math, etc.).

Those schools also test in small groups of no more than 18 students and testing was spread out over a longer period of time. Schedule alterations were also made in some schools, as well as snacks provided.

Smet said during the meeting the new focus – both nationally and at a state level – is getting all students, regardless of household income or special education needs, at an acceptable level.

“A page full of numbers like this doesn’t tell you anything. You have to interpret the data,” Smet said. “I will also not accept complacency. We have to establish a culture of constant improvement.”