Struggling to make AYP: students' views from two schools

Some students are unhappy about methods used to achieve 'adequate yearly progress.'

by Ron Whitehorne

Photo: Ron Whitehorne

YUC members from Edison say many students there have responded favorably to incentives to encourage them to take the test and improve their scores.

For most school administrators and teachers, "making AYP" - adequate yearly progress - is like the weather. You can complain all you want about it but you can't avoid it.

But what about students? Students can't avoid the effects of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law either - they are the ones who have to boost their test scores to meet performance targets.

But how aware are students of the changes that are going on in schools as a result of NCLB, and how do their views compare with the comments and complaints heard from educators? What do students think about the intensified concentration on test preparation and scores?

Contrasting answers come from high school students belonging to Youth United for Change (YUC) chapters at Strawberry Mansion and Edison High Schools.

YUC is a student organization that organizes students to change their schools. While YUC does not claim to speak for all students, its members generally have a good sense of what students are thinking. YUC chapters carry out surveys and listening campaigns to find out what students are concerned about and to set their own goals for organizing.

Concerns at Strawberry Mansion

At Strawberry Mansion, the YUC chapter has a range of concerns about how the school prepares students for the PSSA and is planning a campaign around these issues.

Strawberry Mansion was one of three comprehensive high schools in Philadelphia that made AYP last year. However, YUC members at the school say students are unhappy with many of the methods the school used to achieve this goal.

Last year Kristina Hill, then a junior, testified before the School Reform Commission to protest being pulled out of advanced placement classes for test prep activities. Students were assured that their grades would not suffer as a result, but Hill notes, "It's what you learn, not just your grade that's important, and you can't learn if you're not in the class."

YUC students say the pullout program was selective, targeting students who, based on their TerraNova scores, were likely to score high enough on the PSSA to make the move from one performance category to another, a major measurement in calculating AYP. This approach of targeting students who were close to proficiency for special help was widely practiced across the District.

YUC members are researching other options they think would be more effective than pulling students out of core subject classes. They argue that all students should have access to productive opportunities to improve test-taking skills at the school.

Many students complain that the Kaplan test preparation materials in use were boring and lacked relevance. In response, YUC member Tiffany Thomas proposed that students meet to discuss how to make test preparation more interesting.

The frustrations about test prep materials mirror a more general feeling among YUC members that instruction is less engaging because of the test prep regime. Some students complain that they have to copy the state standards for each lesson and in some cases memorize them.

"We used to do a lot of things that were fun, like in science when we did hands-on experiments," said 11th grader Kenneth Williams. "Now it's just worksheets, worksheets, worksheets."