Remediation required for 'A' student
Associated Press
ELKHART - A second-grader who received mostly A's on his report card must take a summer remediation course, because he was confused about how to mark answers on a required standardized test, his mother says.
"He says he thought it was a timed test so he did it as quickly as he could," said Cindy Graber, whose son, Steve, scored below the minimum skill standards on the Northwest Evaluation Association test this spring.
Also, she told The Truth, after reviewing his test with a school administrator, it seemed he was confused over which line of answer bubbles corresponded with which question.
All students at Feeser Elementary School in Elkhart who score below the minimum standard are required to attend remediation, according to a letter sent to the Grabers. If students don't attend, they risk having to repeat the grade.
Each of Elkhart's schools may develop its own policy on mandatory summer school, said Shawn Hannon, supervisor of student accounting and program evaluation for Elkhart Community Schools.
Hannon also said each school can decide what its individual passing score will be on the NWEA. At Feeser, a score of 192 in each of three areas - math, reading and language - is considered passing. Steve scored 187, 187 and 195.
But his teacher, Rene Formsma, noted on his report card, "Steve has had a successful second-grade year. In my estimation his grades are all above average or excellent . . ."
