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Test scores released
for area schools
Published Friday, August 21
By Jebb Johnston
Staff Writer
Local school districts are pointing to some positive numbers and areas that need improvement in the results of the Mississippi Curriculum Test Second Edition and Subject Area Testing Program.
The Mississippi Department of Education is today publicly releasing testing data from 2008-2009 for districts across the state. The MCT2 is the revamped, tougher assessment for children in grades 3 through 8, while students must pass the Algebra I, U.S. History, Biology I and English II tests in order to advance.
Alcorn School District Superintendent Stacy Suggs said the district is most proud of the results achieved by students at Kossuth High School and Rienzi Elementary.
Otherwise, "We've got a lot of work to do," he said. "We're not satisfied with where we are, and we are striving to do better."
On the MCT2, "We expected to see greater gains from last year, and it's just not there," he said. "It comes down to expectations and performance, and we didn't get it done in some schools."
One area of concern is the pass rate of 48.9 percent on the Algebra I subject area test at Alcorn Central High School. The school's pass rate rose from 32.9 percent the previous year, while the district's pass rate on the new test results is 71.6 percent.
The district is looking to a new employee, Kim Hamm, who came from the Booneville School District, to strengthen math instruction throughout the district. Suggs described her as a "phenomenal" algebra teacher who will be working with teachers throughout the district to boost math performance.
Suggs also looks for the uniform grading policy just adopted by the school district to make a difference. The new policy involves comprehensive six-weeks exams.
One of the most important steps, said Suggs, is to make sure that teacher-made assessments are as rigorous as students will encounter on the MCT2.
Corinth Superintendent Lee Childress said the district is pleased with its results overall.
"Our teachers continue to perform in classrooms and deliver instruction at a level that enables Corinth students to be successful," he said.
Childress said teachers and students have stepped up their efforts for the more rigorous assessments.
"However, there are certain grades and specific content areas that we are extremely proud of, and there are some where we have specific concerns," he said.
Math generally was a strong point for the district.
"Our eight-grade students who took the Algebra I test have among the highest scores in the state," said Childress.
Elsewhere in math, many students in grades 3 through 8 earned "proficient" or "advanced" scores on the MCT2, with 78 percent of eighth grade students scoring in those categories.
The district does have some concerns about Algebra I.
"There are issues that must be addressed with Algebra I at the high school," said Childress, "because we just barely exceeded the state average."
The district continues to eye reading and language arts as areas to improve..
"Students must be able to read and effectively communicate if they are to succeed," said Childress. "While we have seen some improvement in this area, the district still does not have the proficiency levels we would like to see. Our fourth-grade scores showed 77 percent proficient or advanced. However, grade six only had 57 percent and grade three 55 percent proficient and advanced. We don't see the consistency in these scores we do in the mathematics scores." With the new school year, the district is focusing on moving more students to the proficient and advanced categories.
"Students must be at these levels when children make the transition from the K-12 system to college and the workplace if they are going to compete for the jobs of the future," the Corinth superintendent said.
The district is currently conducting a universal screening of students in grades 1 through 8 to assess basic math skills, math concepts and applications, reading fluency and comprehension.
"We believe this data will yield information that will better enable us to plan instructional strategies for all students," said Childress. The district is also striving to provide multiple additional learning opportunities to boost the scores of students who need to move out of the minimal and basic categories and to help the proficient and advanced students remain in those categories.
"The Corinth School District is committed to this type of instruction, and we believe that must happen for our children to be prepared for the future," Childress said.
Both districts exceeded the state pass rate in each of the subject area tests, faring best in U.S. History, with a 100 percent pass rate in the Corinth district and a 99.1 percent pass rate in the Alcorn district. The results of the grades 5 and 8 science tests also became publicly available today.
To view test data for the districts and individual schools, visit www.mde.k12.ms.us and click on the "MAARS" link in the right column near the end of the page.
