PLAN scores mostly rising at area schools

By BURTON SPEAKMAN

GLASGOW — Area high schools have recently received results of the PLAN test given to sophomores.

Most of the schools have posted gains for the 2009-10 year.

Keith Hale, principal at Barren County High School, said much of his district’s improvement in the PLAN scores has to be credited to the rigorous coursework.

“I’d have to give 90 percent of the credit to the coursework. These kids are being tested in pre-algebra, but they’re currently in algebra 2 if not geometry,” he said. “They’re using techniques they were taught two years ago, so this can’t be short-term memory, it has to be long-term memory.”

Barren County’s scores were 17.2 English, 17.7 math, 17.1 reading, 18.7 science and 17.8 composite for 2009-10. This compares favorably to last year’s scores of 16.7 English, 17.2 math, 16.7 reading, 17.8 science and 17.2 composite and the national averages of 16.9 English, 17.4 math, 16.9 reading, 18.2 science and 17.5 composite.

Students can’t be taught specifically to the test, Hale said. They have to understand the overall concept not simply provide information for the test, like some others.

Students are being asked to recall information they used years ago as part of a time test, Hale said. The PLAN test as well as the ACT are not tests for which specific test preparation can be done.

“They’re so broad-based. The students simply have to have a solid grasp of the subject matter,” he said.

This is the third year that all sophomores in Kentucky have been required to take the PLAN test and the first year that the district has been above the national averages, Hale said.

It’s difficult for Kentucky schools to be above the national averages because not all states require all students to take the PLAN test. In other states only 65 or 70 percent of students may participate and those are the most dedicated students who are headed to college, he said.

“It’s a really big accomplishment for us to be above the national average,” Hale said.

This year the Glasgow school district results were roughly the same as last year, said Sharon Ritter, district assesment coordinator and instruction supervisor. The previous year the district had posted a big gain in PLAN scores.

This year’s scores were 16.6 English, 16.8 math, 16.4 reading, 17.9 science and 17 composite. This compares to 16.2 English, 16.9 math, 16.3 reading, 17.7 science and 16.9 composite last year.

The scores remaining roughly the same is just part of the process, Ritter said.

“Some years you’ll have a big gain and then you’ll have a couple of years that are roughly the same, then you’ll have another big jump,” she said. “It’s just part of the process.”

The district has implemented a program designed to increase PLAN scores along with the related EXPLORE and ACT test scores. The EXPLORE test is the

precursor to PLAN and is taken in eighth grade, while the ACT is taken during a student’s junior year.

Students at the middle school in sixth through eighth grades are taking 100 minutes per day of math one semester and 100 minutes of reading the next semester to help students with college preparedness, Ritter said. These three tests are designed to help determine a student’s college preparedness. The district also uses the tests to determine where a student needs assistance before they take the ACT.

Plan scores at Caverna High School for this year are 13.9 English, 14.8 math, 14.8 reading, 16.6 science and 15.1 composite. This compares to 14.4 English, 15 math, 14.8 reading, 16.6 science and 16.3 composite last year.

There is always room for improvement, said Principal Debbi Lindsey.

“We’re not as far back as some schools, but we’re not where we want to be,” she said.

The key is to get students ready, Ritter said.

Metcalfe County schools have started its process of improving scores with the Sixth-Grade Center. Students begin taking the EXPLORE test in sixth grade. The sixth-grade scores will enable the district to locate deficiencies before the students have to officially take the EXPLORE test in their eighth grade year, then the PLAN test as sophomores and the ACT as juniors, said Patricia Hurt, superintendent at Metcalfe County Schools.

“These tests all work together,” she said.

Metcalfe County scores this year are 15.7 English, 16 math, 16.3 reading, 17.1 science and 16.4 composite. The previous year, the scores were 15.7 English, 15.8 math, 15.4 reading, 17 science and 16.1 composite.

It’s easier for the district to work toward improvement when deficiencies are learned about earlier, Hurt said. It’s much more difficult to improve scores as the students get older.

“We’re still doing things for older students to help them improve their scores,” she said. “A community effort is needed to help students and the schools are a big part of it.”

Students must also have support from their parents to improve and members of the community need to pat students on the back when they show improvement, Hurt said.

In a recent letter to the community, Hurt wrote that the district’s scores are “less than satisfactory” and that the district is planning multiple means to aid improvement.

These include tutoring for students, promoting college attendance, utilizing online ACT preparation courses, and using the Community Education Grant as a way to promote greater focus on career and college exploration by hosting a career fair in early November 2009 at MCHS for the entire Metcalfe County community among others, she said.