Hawaii ready to
put kids to
the standards test

The new assessment will reflect
on teachers as well as students

---

By Lisa Asato
lasato@starbulletin.com

The No. 2 pencils are sharpened, the test booklets have been sent to schools and Hawaii's new statewide assessment test is under way.

"They should be ready to go. Some are apparently going already," said Mike Heim, director of Planning and Evaluation in the state Department of Education.

This month, about 55,000 students in grades 3, 5, 8 and 10 will take the Hawaii Content and Performance Standards II state assessment, which was delayed a year because of the 2001 teachers' strike. It will be the first gauge the state will have on how public schools measure up to state standards in reading, writing and math.

"We now have standards curriculum, instruction and assessment finally that are all standards-based," Heim said.

Heim said that compared to the familiar Standard Achievement Test schools have been using for 20 years, the new test will give "more meaningful" information. Think of three students climbing a mountain, he said. While the SAT ranks them first, second and third, the assessment test measures student performance relative to the goal, or standard.

The SAT is multiple choice, but the assessment test asks students to write out calculations in math answers and in writing for English portions -- so officials can gauge their proficiency.

At Moanalua Middle School, where students started their seven sessions of testing Thursday, teacher Alejandro Perez said preparation for the test is year-round in the sense that teachers are always aiming for standards.

Performance test question example The Hawaii Content and Performance Standards state assessment includes both multiple-choice and so-called "constructed response" questions that require some explanation on the students' part. Here is a sample question from the Hawaii Content and Performance Standards II state assessment. >> The writing segment requires students to write their answer to a prompt, such as this one for fifth-graders: Imagine that for a day you can trade places with someone you would like to be. This person, real or imaginary, can be from the past, present or future. Tell who that person is and why you would like to trade places with him or her. Write about what you would do as that person for one day and how you would feel about it.

"I changed my approach, I changed my style how I relate the material to the students," said Perez, the head of the school's math department. "I have to be flexible and integrate other disciplines, not only math, but, say, English and social studies."

Perez said the test will not only measure how much students are learning, but reflect on teachers as well.

"It will be beneficial in assessing our way of teaching," he said. He said as a math teacher in the Central District, he goes to monthly meetings where teachers receive lessons on changing teaching methods to address standards.

"That always is helpful but we'll see," he said. "We all gotta change. We'll see how the test will show that."

The new test will include an abbreviated version of the SAT, which will be used for national comparisons. But unlike the SAT sessions, which have firm time limits, the standards test allows students to take extra time to complete the segments.

"We're not looking for speed on that part, so much as what the student can do," Heim said.

Heim said the federal No Child Left Behind Act requires states to assess their standards programs or face possible cuts in funding.

The SAT scores are expected in August. Raw data for the standards are expected at the same time but will be released in October or November to give time for experts to "make a professional judgment as to where proficiency levels should be set," Heim said.

"We've done everything we know how to do to prepare for this assessment and to make it successful," he said. "Now whether that was enough we're about to find out."