Schools to train staff on conducting state tests

NORFOLK

Recent testing violations at several schools prompted Superintendent Stephen C. Jones on Friday to declare a "stand-down" in March where administrators will attend training on proper procedures for conducting mandatory state exams.

A stand-down is a military exercise in which all personnel stop routine activity after a surge of unlikely incidents - say, a spate of aircraft accidents - and discuss practices and guidelines associated with the problem.

Four schools have been cited recently in Norfolk for violations in how the Standards of Learning tests were conducted last year. The state Department of Education is reviewing allegations about three others.

Jones told state education leaders this week that two school employees have been disciplined in connection with the irregularities.

The March 30 event will gather principals and administrators for a four-hour session, details of which are still being planned, Elizabeth Thiel Mather, the division's spokeswoman, said.

However, the session will generally cover rules governing the SOL tests. Information will subsequently be disseminated to teachers and other school staff.

Among the schools with recent violations was Dreamkeepers Academy where, according to a division investigation, the principal said she decided she could skip testing some students on the SOL exams and still meet a federal testing benchmark. The principal, Doreatha White, said this week the division had misquoted and misrepresented her.

SOL tests are used to determine a school's accreditation. Poor-performing schools can harm property values, teacher recruitment and morale. Consistently underperforming schools face state intervention.

School Board Chairman Stephen Tonelson said Friday that the stand-down shows how seriously he and others are taking news about the irregularities. "It is to help increase awareness of the importance of this process and to assure that everyone hears the exact same message," he said.

Board member Jim Driggers commended the testing stand-down. "Refresher training is a good way to describe it," he said.

Norfolk Council PTA President Stephanie Smith also called the event a good idea. "If they broke the rules, they got to get on the right track and do the right thing," she said.

"Anything that the school division does on its own to highlight the importance of following proper procedures for the assessment is welcome," Charles Pyle, a spokesman for the state Department of Education, said.

This week, Tonelson also asked the state Education department to perform a division wide review of how SOL testing is being conducted. The state is also providing Norfolk technical assistance on the proper procedures for administering the tests.

On Thursday, the board is likely to receive the report of a panel appointed by the division to review how Norfolk schools are conducting the Virginia Grade Level Assessment exam, an alternative to the SOL test designed for some students with learning disabilities.

The panel was created after a state investigation found violations in how the VGLA was administered at Lafayette-Winona Middle School. The problems ranged from special education students who weren't tested to assessments with identical answers, including misspellings.

Last week, the division announced new practices for testing. One rule requires that the division's special education department and principals monitor students' individual learning plans to make sure all regulations are followed and that only eligible students participate in the alternative rather than the SOL test.

The division will also establish a phone number for staff and anyone who wants to confidentially report allegations of school testing violations.

School officials also plan to post a resource page on its Web site that will describe testing policies, practices and what situations are considered to be irregularities.

Steven G. Vegh, (757) 446-2417, steven.vegh@pilotonline.com