WICKER PARK — A woman whose daughter passed all her 8th grade classes but didn't score high enough on a standardized test to graduate on time is calling for an investigation into the system.
Lakeita Harris' daughter, Zariah Davis — who earned mainly A's and B's on her report card but ranked low on the math portion of a standardized test — will be allowed to participate in Monday's Pritzker School graduation but will need to attend summer school.
For a time, it was unclear whether the girl would be able to take part in the ceremony, scheduled for Monday. The girl's mother got a call on Sunday from Pritzker's principal telling her the child would be permitted to participate.
"I feel way better than I did two days ago," said Davis, 14, early Monday, just a few hours before she'd be joining her peers in the 8th grade graduation ceremony at Pritzker School, 2009 W. Schiller St.
Davis, who has attended the Wicker Park elementary school since 4th grade, will not get a diploma, because does not meet Chicago Public School's elementary school promotion policy, which weighs scores from standardized Northwest Evaluation Association tests as part of the equation on whether a 3rd, 6th or 8th grade student will move to the next grade.
Alisa Hauser says Harris wants parents to know more about this test:
According to a transcript, the girl earned a C average in math but ranked in the 10th percentile on a 52-question, two-hour standardized test.
"The principal called me on Sunday to tell us that the board will allow her to participate in the ceremony. I am satisfied with that portion, that she can walk, but it is still a fight to be fought," Harris said. "Parents need to know this test is a big deal. The Chicago school system and the exam needs to be investigated."
Dr. Joenile Albert-Reese, Pritzker School's principal, said on Friday that she has "sympathy" for the three parents out of a class of 64 8th graders whose children were not promoted. And in an email to Harris, CPS Network 6 Chief Herald Johnson called the news "unfortunate."
However, Johnson also attached a copy of the CPS promotion policy, established by the Board of Education in the fall, that states that even students who earn a C in the classroom but score low on the standardized test must attend summer school.
Harris signed the promotion policy in November and did not elect to "opt out" her daughter from standardized exams.
"Math is her weak point, but how much preparation was done for the test? What is a summer school teacher supposed to teach my child in a month's time? She will not have that freedom to do what most teenagers will get to do over the summer. My daughter worked so hard all year to be smacked in the face by this exam," Harris said.
Last Tuesday, Davis said she was pulled out of her homeroom classroom by her teacher, who informed her that she would need to attend summer school from June 29-July 31 and would not be able to participate in the graduation ceremony, an account confirmed by the Pritzker principal.
"My heart dropped when he told me. I couldn't cry because I was shocked," Davis said.
The last-minute news forced her grandmother to cancel a graduation trip with her granddaughter to the Bahamas, too.
Pritzker principal Albert-Reese did not reply to an inquiry from DNAinfo on what changed between Friday and Monday that allowed Davis to join the ceremony.
Bill McCaffrey, a CPS spokesman, confirmed on Friday that three students from Pritzker "do not qualify under the normal promotion policy."
"This is not a snafu or a misinterpretation of the promotion policy," McCaffrey said.
McCaffrey was unable to supply a number of CPS students in 3rd, 6th and 8th grades who will be attending summer school as a result of not ranking high enough in the NWEA exam, which replaced the Illinois State Board of Education Test (ISAT) as a way to measure a student's skills against national percentiles.
The math portion covers algebra, geometry, measurement and data analysis. Most students finish the test within an hour, according to a CPS Fact sheet.
Cassie Creswell, an organizer with More Than A Score, an organization that says it works "to end misuse" of standardized tests in Chicago Public Schools, said that "report card grades are far more predictive than any standardized test score."
Wendy Katten of the grassroots parent group Raise Your Hand said the organization has been "pushing for CPS to ditch their promotion policy."
"We have met with CPS and asked for them to change it; they mentioned at a board meeting this year they were considering it. They should not hold these kids back based on a test score that has a high error rate," Katten said.
Though Davis was accepted into a CPS charter school for high school, Harris, a single mother, has rented an apartment in Oak Park and will be moving there this summer so that Davis, provided she earns her diploma at the end of summer school, can start her freshman year at Oak Park and River Forest High School.
When asked how she feels about attending summer school, Davis said, "If that's what they want me to do, that's what I will do."
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