Students test under security [Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, Texas]

Apr. 28--Local students are taking Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) tests this week under state security requirements that have grown increasingly strict over the years.

Signs must be properly posted. Students must have sufficient space to take the tests. Bulletin boards and instructional displays in a classroom that could provide answers must be covered. There can be no more than 30 students per test administrator, and the administrators must be actively monitoring the students at all times.

Those are just a few of the TAKS security rules.

"It is phenomenal how many hours it takes to administer one test and do it correctly," said Pam Brown, director of guidance and assessment at Lubbock-Cooper Independent School District.

Administrators of local school districts take a first-hand look at test security by going to school campuses for on-site monitoring during TAKS testing.

"It's protection to us, and it opens the eyes of the administrators to the mechanics of what it takes to have a successful testing environment," Brown said.

The Texas Education Agency has monitoring teams that randomly visit schools. The school administrators who monitor their own campuses are looking for the same things the TEA is, said Pam Leftwich, the Lubbock Independent School District's executive director for research, assessment and accountability.

"I want my staff to see how important test security is. I love the security. It's almost like Fort Knox," said Lubbock-Cooper superintendent Pat Henderson, who is one of the monitors.

Most of the TAKS testing will be done on Tuesday through Thursday this week, but a few class levels will have tests Friday.

Leftwich said LISD central office administrators will be assigned to campuses every day.

"They will report back to us. They are our eyes and ears," she said. "We put this in place as a safeguard to ensure our campuses are following the rules and regulations of state testing and making sure all students are being tested fairly and are receiving equal chances on state assessments."

Brown said, "The biggest thing they are looking for is that the teacher is actively monitoring -- not sitting at a desk and reading or looking at a computer. Teachers always should have eyes on the students."

Andy Penney, director of public relations and information for the Frenship Independent School District, said Frenship administrators will be at all the district's campuses during the testing.

"As a matter of fact, I have to go to two campuses tomorrow to do the same thing. All of our teachers and administrators go through a formal training prior to the test," Penney said.

In addition to training, members of the monitoring team take a security oath, Brown said. The monitors observe classrooms through the windows in the classroom doors during the testing but don't go in, she said.

If they see something they believe is not following the guidelines, they will finish their observations, go back and check again, Brown said. If necessary, they will fill out a report about what they saw.

Leftwich said monitors want everyone across the school district doing the same thing. If they find something not consistent, they will inform campus testing coordinators, who are the counselors, assistant principals and some teachers.

Lubbock-Cooper Assistant Superintendent Berta Fogerson said being part of a TAKS monitoring team is one of her favorite things. She doesn't get to visit the school campuses as much as she would like, she said.

"I really enjoy it, Our staff works really hard to get prepared. It's a way to validate all of the work they have done to ensure an optimal testing environment," Fogerson said.

The administrators monitoring at the campuses are a support mechanism for the teachers who are administering the test, Penney said.

"We make sure there aren't any questions that need to be answered," he said.

The monitoring process isn't confrontational but is supportive of the teachers, Brown said.

"I always tell the teachers they have worked so hard all year on the curriculum. Why would they not want the test day to have the most optimum conditions possible for a student?"

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TAKS monitoring

Assistant Superintendent Berta Fogerson said only about six or seven primary central office administrators participated during the first year Lubbock-Cooper did TAKS monitoring, but other administrators have been added in the years since. They go to campuses in teams and cover specific shifts, she said.

Lubbock-Cooper administrators who are participating this year are:

--Pat Henderson, superintendent

--Thom Vines, deputy superintendent

--Berta Fogerson, assistant superintendent

--Betsy Taylor, chief financial officer

--Oliver Thompson, executive director of administrative services

--Tracy Fogerson, executive director of state and federal programs

--Ellna Henry, director of special programs

--Gary Frye, director of grants

--Will Truby, director of human resources

--Jo Ellen Henderson, director of public information

--Richard Jones, director of technology

--Pat Coleman, director of health services

--Susan Roup, director of 21st Century grant programs

--Ann Ferris, director of finance

--Steve Navrkal, director of student services

--Robyn Green, coordinator of secondary instruction

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