BY SUSAN VELA
The Cincinnati Enquirer
FORT THOMAS
-- Breathe in and what do you get? Breathe out and what do you exhale? For the biology students who answered oxygen to the first and carbon dioxide to the second, candy was the reward.
Jean Becker, a Highlands High School teacher for about six years, likes to toss sweets to those with correct answers.
Her humor, plus aquariums filled with living creatures and plenty of lab experiments, are just some of the creative tools she uses to teach.
The goal is to emphasize participation and hands-on knowledge so that her students succeed on standardized tests and in the real world.
"I have to make sure that their foundation is solid," she said. A determination to do well is found throughout the district -- from administrators to students -- and it's paying off before some students even fit into their caps and gowns.
|
HIGHEST RATED
|
These 11 school districts -- five of them in Northern Kentucky -- had the highest ratings in the state for the 1996-98 cycle of the KIRIS test. Two years of tests are averaged for this score. Scores can range from 0 to 140.
Anchorage 69.6
Fort Thomas 67.8
Walton-Verona 61.4
Oldham County 61.1
Murray County 58.8
Beechwood 58.2
Southgate 57.7
Daviess 57.3
Paintsville 57.1
Glasgow 56.7
Ludlow 56.5
Source: Kentucky Instructional Results Information System
|
The 2,350-student Fort Thomas school system took first in Northern Kentucky for its 1996-98 performance on the Kentucky Instructional Results Information System -- or KIRIS -- tests. Statewide, Fort Thomas was second only to Anchorage Independent Schools, which scored 69.6 to Fort Thomas' 67.8.
Fort Thomas schools also ranked well individually. Last year's 11th-graders scored the best in the state, earning Highlands High School a score of 72.8.
The top performance allowed the school to make the biggest improvement in Northern Kentucky, jumping 18 points from the 1994-1996 testing round.
Highlands Middle School improved by 11.9 points (the third-highest increase in Northern Kentucky) and Johnson Elementary's score jumped by 10.6 points (ninth-highest increase in Northern Kentucky). Kentucky students began taking KIRIS tests in 1992. Scores have been used to determine whether teachers and other staff get cash rewards.
For this last round of KIRIS testing, Fort Thomas will be just one of 904 schools to share $27 million. Fort Thomas Superintendent Larry Stinson still doesn't know how much that will mean for the district's teachers and staff, who receive the reward money in bonuses.
He credits the district's success to its "high-quality" level of instruction. However, he worries that the state's attempt to close the equity gap between poor and rich schools could put the district at risk.
The Kentucky Education Reform Act of 1990 spawned both KIRIS and the push to correct funding inequities. Since then, poorer districts have been catching up to the richer ones in both finances and academics.
"You look at our test scores and think it doesn't (harm us) too much," he said. "But we're probably getting close to that point where we'll no longer be able to provide what we've been able to. It'll start to show up" in salary scales and the district's ability to attract quality staff.
For now, the district remains one of the best in the state. The district also received top scores for its 1997-1998 performance on the Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills, which shows how Kentucky students test on a national level.
Once again, Fort Thomas received the highest scores in the region and was second in the state to Anchorage Independent Schools.
Highlands High School Principal George Frakes said the charm may be paying attention to what standardized tests stress and making sure students take pride in their community, school and test performances. Based on KIRIS scores, the school was considered to be in decline in fall of 1997. The whole community banded together to turn the situation around.
Teachers began stressing student participation. They also made curriculum changes. Science teachers provided more earth science instruction to ninth- and 10th-graders, and American history classes tied in other subjects.
American history teacher Kent Juett said that, these days, one of his lesson plans might cover history plus government, economics and the social sciences. For example, he might ask the students to research why people moved to a certain part of the country at a certain time and what effect that has on the political structure. He and other teachers also organized committees that made banners heralding KIRIS and sought donations so that students would be assured a breakfast and snacks on test days.
Test scores certainly indicate that the efforts worked.
"It works because everyone is working together -- the students, the teachers, the community," Mr. Juett said.
Denise Trauth, a 17-year-old senior, remembers last spring's testing. There was a lot of pressure, she said, because of the school's "in decline" state.
But the perks that teachers provided -- snacks and no assigned homework -- were worth it. She remembers getting to bed on time and getting a good night's rest.
Back in Mrs. Becker's classroom on Thursday afternoon, a class of 10th-graders started the day by handing in cell models made from all sorts of items. Cloth, beads, Play-doh,
jelly beans and baking goods were just some of them. The students also prepared for a lab experiment.
Once again, Mrs. Becker's emphasis on participation and hands-on experience -- which she believes makes students more interested in learning and more likely to score well on standardized tests -- seemed to be working.
Tasia Cowan and Angela Galbreath, both 15, set up their microscope. The teacher helped them adjust its light before they checked out the fine details of a potato cell.
Both said they enjoyed the hands-on experience a lot more than book work. But they know both are crucial to score high on a new standardized test -- the Commonwealth Accountability Testing System -- this spring. "Both will help," Angela said.
KIRIS tested fourth-, fifth-, seventh-, eighth- and 11th-graders on the subjects of math, reading, writing, science, social studies, arts and humanities and practical living - vocational skills.
CATS, which replaces KIRIS this spring, will test third- through 12th-graders. Students in grades 3, 6 and 9 will be tested in reading, language arts and mathematics; grades 4 and 7, in reading, writing and science; grades 5 and 8, in math, social studies, arts and humanities and practical living - vocational studies; and grade 11, on math, science, social studies and arts and humanities. Students in 12th grade will take an on-demand writing test and complete a writing portfolio.
