Wednesday, February 17, 1999
Fairfield schools aim higher on sixth-grade tests
BY SUE KIESEWETTER
Enquirer Contributor
FAIRFIELD — In the past five years, scores on the ninth-grade proficiency tests have increased dramatically in the Fairfield City Schools.
Now Superintendent Charles Wiedenmann wants to see the same results on the sixth-grade tests.
“We beat Lakota this year,” Mr. Wiedenmann said in his 1999 State of the Schools address at Tuesday's chamber of commerce luncheon. “This is the area they (ninth-grade scores) should be in for a suburban school district.”
Writing was Fairfield's strongest subject, with a 98 percent passing rate, up from 77.2 percent five years ago on the ninth-grade tests. Reading followed at 95 percent. Following that: citizenship, at 93 percent; science at 84 percent; and math, 83 percent.
Scores on the sixth-grade proficiency test, however, weren't as high. Less than half the students — 46 percent — passed the math section and only 52 percent passed science, Mr. Wiedenmann said. Scores were only slightly better in reading, with 59 percent passing. In citizenship, 72 percent of students passed; in writing, 94 percent.
Calling the sixth-grade scores “unacceptable,” Mr. Wiedenmann promised a plan would be unveiled at Thursday's board of education meeting. It would reduce time students spent in music and study hall and increase the minutes spent in the core academic areas included on the profi ciency tests, he said.
Besides changing sixth-grade schedules, the plan would add staff at the intermediate and high schools so that more electives can be offered. That should mean fewer students in study halls.
Improving the proficiency test scores is also an objective of the district's new five-year strategic plan, which calls for 100 percent of students pass ing proficiency tests on their first try. Test scores are among 18 criteria Ohio schools will be judged on to determine effective schools when the official state report cards are released by the Ohio Department of Education next year.
“We're serious about what we're doing,” Mr. Wiedenmann said. “We're not afraid of accountability.”
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