The Fayette Citizen-News Page
Wednesday, March 24, 1999
Fayette students tackle the Iowa tests

By PAT NEWMAN
Staff Writer

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Third, fifth and eighth grade students in Fayette County Schools are tackling the Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS) this week. As children are sent off to school with a healthy breakfast and a fistful of number two pencils, they can also benefit from the advice Dr. John DeCotis, assistant superintendent of schools and soon-to-be superintendent, gave his slightly anxious son, "Relax, and do the best you can.

Tagged "The Iowas" the state-mandated battery of tests assesses how students measure up against a national population curve, DeCotis explained. With fifty percent of the nation's students scoring above the norm and fifty percent below, DeCotis said Fayette County's students generally average in the mid 70's. "The tests gives us a snapshot of what students know," DeCotis said.

"But it only measures a part of what we're teaching," he added. "We have our curriculum and all of our objectives are included in the curriculum."

DeCotis also noted that students who transfer into Fayette County schools from other school districts may not have learned the same material. Curriculums vary across the nation. "For instance our American History may go into more depth," DeCotis said.

While students do not study for basic skills tests, DeCotis said many teachers will prep their classes with timed tests prior to the Iowas. "Teachers are not allowed to distribute old tests," DeCotis added. "The rules are very strict."

In addition to the three grades being tested this week, some schools tested other selective grades last week. DeCotis said teachers and administrators feel the tests are useful in charting the progress of their students.

Results of the ITBS are expected before the end of the school year, DeCotis said. Scores are kept on students' permanent files and can be used as one tool for determining eligibility to a gifted program.

The ITBS is one of several standardized tests given regularly to Fayette County students. A state-mandated writing test is administered in the third, fifth and eighth grades. There is a kindergarten test, a high school graduation test and a cognitive abilities test, similar to an IQ test given to second graders.

DeCotis said the current trend in education is for more testing. "In the '70s and early '80s there was so much testing, that educators backed off. Now we're going to have more testing, before we see less," he predicted. Already in the works is a new criteria and referencing test to be administered to every grade.


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