On SOLs, a Norfolk school logs near-perfect pass rates

NORFOLK

Angela Schaeffer became nervous after her Willoughby Elementary students took practice Standards of Learning tests early last spring.

It wasn’t that they did poorly. It was that t hey did so well.

“We were getting 100 percent (pass rates) in every class,” said Schaeffer, who was the school’s math specialist . “I was scared the tests were too easy.”

But when Willoughby’s third-, fourth- and fifth-graders took the official exams a month later, the results came back nearly the same: 260 out of 262 SOL test papers received passing scores.

That meant that Willoughby had 100 percent pass rates in five accreditation benchmarks , more than any of the other 1,836 schools in the state where standardized tests were taken, as reported by the Virginia Department of Education. In the sixth benchmark , the school got a 98 percent pass rate.

Pass rates on SOL tests determine whether Virginia schools meet various government goals for student learning. This year, schools were required to achieve pass rates between 50 percent and 77 percent for state and federal standards, depending on the grade level and the subject.

“I knew our students could do it,” said Kristine Timerson, Willoughby’s PTA president. “I was excited.”

One of Norfolk’s smallest elementary schools, Willoughby served about 280 students in pre-kindergarten through fifth grade last year. Just 72 of the school’s students were required to take the SOL exams in the spring: third-graders took tests in four subjects, fourth-graders were tested in two subjects, and fifth-graders in five subjects.

With such a small number of test-takers, “many people … would say they should have passed,” Principal Sharon Phillips said. “We agree.”

Willoughby, a squat, brown 1960s-era building, anchors the northern end of Ocean View, blocks away from the Chesapeake Bay to the east and Willoughby Bay to the west.

Most of Willoughby’s students are military children, and about 53 percent qualify for the federal free and reduced-price lunch program.

Once a month, students are permitted to make jewelry, play on a Nintendo Wii or do other activities for one hour during Club Day. Parents love the small class sizes – an average of 16 to 18 students last year. The principal occasionally grills hot dogs for staff members in the school’s courtyard.

Teachers motivate themselves with a cheer borrowed from West Virginia’s Marshall University: “We are Willoughby!” They arrive early and stay late to work with students. They call parents twice a week, and they assign homework on Fridays and review packets for extra credit over holidays.

“All the teachers, they don’t know just their class,” said Tina Evans, the PTA first vice president , “they know all the kids.”

The school’s SOL pass rates have been climbing since 2002, when fewer than 65 percent of Willoughby students passed the state’s standardized tests in English and math, and fewer than half scored well on the history exams.

Phillips arrived as principal in 2006, ready to make adjustments that would yield more results.

She combined the two fourth-grade classes so a new teacher could work side-by-side with a more experienced teacher and to lighten their planning load. She encouraged dividing small classes into even smaller groups to give students more attention. In 2007, Phillips replaced three of six teachers in SOL testing grades after vacancies from promotions and job changes . She wanted to bring in people whose educational decisions she trusted most.

“We said to all the teachers, 'Look at where your kids start and where they need to go,’” Phillips said.

Evans was impressed with the thoroughness of her son’s third-grade teacher, Patricia Lewis, who worked with individual students until they mastered lessons. “She made sure every kid was clear on that subject,” Evans said.

New technology also helped. Last year, Willoughby received projectors, cameras, and a remote system that electronically polls students and displays their answers. Administrators also installed a SMART Board – an interactive electronic panel linked to a laptop computer – in every classroom.

“It means they can bring the Internet into lessons better,” said Tracie Kunkel, a fourth-grade teacher. “It brings sound. It brings sight.”

The students worked so hard last year that the school held its first Beach Fun Day in June as a reward . Students, teachers and parents played games and grilled hamburgers.

When asked about learning, students used their teachers’ words such as “reading strategies” and “hands-on activities.” They praised the new technology that gives them a break from writing during class.

“The teachers helped me out in every subject,” Kiatre Pattum, 10, said. “They would give me directions clearly.”

Sean Molina, 10, a fifth-grader who scored a perfect 600 on the fourth-grade reading test, called the exam “challenging, not hard” and said he wasn’t surprised at his classmates’ success.

“I knew that everybody would at least try their best and not get left back,” he said.

 Amy Jeter, (757) 446-2730, amy.jeter@pilotonline.com