Math, Science Take Spotlight From Reading: 'Safety-Net' Teachers Will Try to Boost State Test Scores

Apr 06, 01:46 PM

Current Headlines: By Bill Bush, The Columbus Dispatch, Ohio

Apr. 6--The Columbus Public Schools will eliminate the positions of 183 reading-intervention teachers and replace them with math and science specialists next school year.

The move is a bid to improve proficiency-test scores. Columbus students have lagged in those areas.

The math and science teachers will focus on working with fourth- and fifth-graders several days a week, district spokesman Jeff Warner said. "The focus of this is early intervention."

The plan is for a typical class -- about 28 students -- to be divided into two groups. The specialist will work for 90 minutes in the morning with one group while the regular classroom teacher works on reading with the other half. In the afternoon, the teachers will swap students so that each group gets both reading and math and science instruction.

The "safety net" teachers no longer will be working with small groups of students who can't read at grade level, but Warner said the district is not losing its focus on reading.

"We're not de-emphasizing literacy," he said. "We are adding emphasis to math and science."

The change probably is a bad idea, said Timothy Shanahan, president of the International Reading Association. The Newark, Del.-based group supports reading teachers and literacy efforts.

"One of the reasons you don't want to (remove reading specialists) is, to do really well in math and science, you've got to be able to read," he said. "My hunch is they probably will neither succeed at what they're aiming at, and might undermine what they've been able to accomplish so far. I'd be surprised if it works."

Math and science were problem areas for Columbus Public Schools students -- and, to a lesser degree, all other Ohio students -- taking the Ohio Graduation Test last school year.

Although 85.4 percent of Columbus sophomores were proficient in reading, 72.3 percent were proficient in math and 48.6 percent in science. Statewide, 89.4 percent of students passed the reading portion of the graduation test, compared with 82.7 percent for math and 73.1 percent for science.

Science tests were not given in earlier grades last school year, but math scores usually are lower than reading ones. The state began testing fifth-graders in science proficiency this school year.

The teachers applying to be math and science specialists will receive 200 hours of training beginning this summer, said Rhonda Johnson, president of the Columbus Education Association. The program is paid for entirely with federal Title I money, she said.

"This is one of the corrective measures," Johnson said. "The safety nets can be used for reading or math, so this year they are going to focus on math." Most reading specialists work at the elementary level, where 125 safety-net teachers are employed. Another 49 work in middle schools, and nine are in high schools.

The teacher training will be paid for by an $800,000 grant from the Ohio Department of Education, Warner said. It will begin this summer but might not be completed by the start of the school year, he said.

Dispatch reporter Jennifer Smith Richards contributed to this story.

bbush@dispatch.com

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