Exam illustrates literacy hurdles

More than two-thirds of the Charleston County high school students who flunked the state English language arts exit exam entered high school unable to read better than a fourth-grader.

Students' inability to read likely prevented them from understanding the test, much less answering its content-related questions. And it may have prevented some from earning their high school diploma because they must pass the exam to graduate.

School Superintendent Nancy McGinley said she doesn't want to see this happen again, and she said that's why the district is directing its time, energy and money to improving students reading and writing.

"It reaffirms that we have to have a sense of urgency … to keep reading progress happening because once a student stalls in that area, they are doomed to be a high school dropout or close to it," she said.

McGinley said the results support the idea that exit-exam preparation classes, particularly for struggling students, should have a reading focus. She sees a direct correlation between improved reading skills and higher test scores because embedded in every standardized exam is the need to be able to understand the questions, she said.

"We're going to continue to make (literacy) our district-wide goal, and the good news is that it's cascading down to classrooms," she said. "Teachers are talking about this and seeing this as a key driver of student success."

The Post and Courier revealed students' weak reading skills last year in a series of stories, and the superintendent and school board responded by making literacy the district's No. 1 priority.

Eighty-five percent of the 2,949 students who took the English language arts exit exam in 2008-09 passed, but 447 failed to do so. The Post and Courier asked Charleston County school officials to determine those students' reading levels, and the district used students' test scores from eighth grade because not all high school students take standardized tests that show their grade-level reading skills. Exit exam scores from the 2009-10 school year were unavailable.

Of the 447 students who failed, officials could find the eighth-grade reading scores for 329 students. More than 30 percent of those students read on a fourth-grade level, while 20 percent read on a third-grade level. Twenty percent were either on a beginner, kindergarten, first- or second-grade reading level. Only 3 percent of the students who failed read on a ninth-grade level or better.

State officials don't know the grade level that the English language arts exit exam is written on. There isn't a standard way of calculating students' grade-level reading ability, so officials didn't try to classify the exam by that measure, said Liz Jones, the state's director of assessment. Instead, a group of the state's teachers decides whether the proposed exam passages are of an appropriate difficulty for the high school students taking the test, she said.

West Ashley High School Principal Mary Runyon realized years ago that many of her students didn't have the reading skills they needed when they started high school, so she started a course in the spring of 2009 to teach them how to read. Students' progress has been so remarkable that she's more than quintupled the size of the program for the upcoming school year to serve at least 75 students.

One teacher will teach six sections of basic reading classes for freshmen while a part-time teacher will do the same for sophomores. It's critical to pour resources into students' freshmen year and focus on their reading, she said.

"I'm ready for them," she said. "I've got that safety net."

Reach Diette Courrégé at 937-5546 or dcourrege@post andcourier.com.