Evanston Township High School board members discussed on Monday the achievement gap between white and minority students, but debated the value of the standardized tests that reflect this gap.

Standardized test scores are only a “piece of the puzzle,” said William Corrin, director of research, evaluation and assessment at ETHS.

Tests are an efficient way of gathering basic academic information, Corrin said, but cannot be compared to real-life scenarios. He said standardized test scores are beneficial only if examined in context.

“You can’t use standardized tests to characterize a whole student,” he said. “What you learn is how well a student expresses a focused education.”

The Prairie State Achievement Examination is scored based on the percentage of students who meet the minimum standard established by the state of Illinois. The percentage of ETHS juniors who met the standard exceeded the Illinois average by between 6 and 11 percentage points in each subject area. Black and Latino ETHS students outperformed minority students at the state level.

But ETHS continues to see discrepancies according to race. White ETHS students scored significantly higher than their minority peers on the PSAE, Corrin said.

In reading, 88 percent of white students at ETHS met the standard set by Illinois, while only 38 percent of black students and 34 percent of Latino students met the standard.

In mathematics, 89 percent of white students met the standard, but only 29 percent of black students and 34 percent of Latino students did so. Ninety-five percent of white students met the standard for writing, compared with 41 percent of black students and 46 percent of Latino students.

In science, 85 percent of white students met the standard, while 23 percent of black students and 31 percent of Latino students did so. And in social sciences, 91 percent of white students met the standard, compared with 45 percent of black students and 35 percent of Latino students.

The PSAE is administered over two days and combines two major assessment tests.

The ACT Assessment Test ranks students in English, mathematics, reading and science reasoning.

The second test, Work Keys, provides data on “reading for information” and applied mathematics — information used by employers to determine whether job applicants have necessary job skills.

Work Keys tests students on their ability to solve real-world problems.

D202 Superintendent Allan Alson and board Vice President Margaret Lurie said it is necessary to identify students in trouble academically as soon as possible.

Corrin suggested compiling an early intervention roster to identify students in need of support.

During the 2001-02 school year, D202’s Minority Student Achievement Plan will strengthen student support programs and train teachers to identify problems that hinder minority improvement.

ETHS adopted the Minority Student Achievement Plan in July 1997. The plan provides background and statistics for analyzing minority achievement.

It is designed to narrow the achievement gap between minority and white students in GPA, course level enrollments and test scores.

“Our overarching goal is to improve student achievement with a particular emphasis on the achievement of students of color,” Alson said.

The district also is trying to implement local standards to focus grades and assessments across the board, Corrin said.

“This is all about raising the rigor and the academic expectations and providing the adequate support that students need to meet those expectations,” Alson said.