Students in grades one through eight took the CRCTs this spring. First- and second-graders are tested in reading; English/language arts; and math. Students in grades three through eight are tested in those three areas, plus science and social studies.
Fifth- and eight-graders must pass the math and reading CRCTs in order to advance to the next grade. Third-graders must pass the reading test.
Districtwide, eighth-graders posted gains in all five content areas. Third- and fifth- graders posted gains in each subject except science, where both grades saw declines of 1 percent in the average scores over those from one year ago.
"The results are a continuation of the success we've seen over the last several years and should align well with the targets we've set in our Strategic Plan," Sanderson said in a prepared statement. "These results should reassure parents and our broader community that academic performance in Cobb County schools remains very strong."
School-by-school results will be released on or before July 8, according to the state department of education.
The CRCTs are a key factor in whether individual schools, and the district as a whole, achieve Adequate Yearly Progress under federal education standards. Those that fail to do so over a number of years face consequences.
Sanderson alluded to that in his statement.
"While our students overall are putting up impressive results, we have to keep in mind that any single sub-group of students, as defined under the No Child Left Behind Act, could cause schools to not make Adequate Yearly Progress. Even as schools show impressive gains overall, if one sub-group fails to reach a specific target, the whole school will fail to make AYP and that concerns me. We'll learn about AYP results in July."
Marietta City Schools students reported large gains across the gateway grades and subject areas. The only decline was in fifth grade social studies scores.
"We're going to sit down now and just go through grade by grade and content area by content area, to determine how much progress we have made, then continue to work," MCS Superintendent Dr. Emily Lembeck said.
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Don't buy the 2% myth. I reality for some it was more like 6%. The 2% was off the top (the pay scale/bracket/chart). Then the cut a day very quietly and contracts went from 191 to 190 (.5%). Doesn't sound like a lot, but we are paid per day worked. Factor in 3 furlough days (1.5%) and we are up to four. Freeze my step for half a year, and you are looking at another .75%. Oh yeah! And then, we got a 'consumer-based' health care plan from the state which made my choices in HC go from 4 to 2 at twice the price for half the service (still haven't figured that one out). In the end, I came out down -6%, even though my taxes went down slightly. And that was only going from 08-09 to 09-10. Can't wait to see what they have in store for next year.
the last 2 decades, you should know that there is
absolutely nothing reassuring about CRCT results.
Georgia should abandon it and have the courage
to measure up to a nationally normed test. Only
then can we step up by comparing apples to apples
instead of rotten lemons to more rotten lemons. But, alas, niether the State nor the County can muster the backbone or imagination to make this leap to honest improvement. Our students and
teachers are very capable of going higher, but
we refuse to raise the bar so they can prove it.
Also... the MDJ should file an open-records request for cut scores per grade per subject area. I think they will find that the DOE keeps lowering cut scores in order to toot their own horn.
What about our IOWA scores? Those should matter more.
these IMPROVED test scores come AFTER
a few years of SEVERE budget cuts.
Scores UP
Costs Down