Brookwood, Woodlawn, Westside get top CRCT scores

Published 2:30 am Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Three area schools saw students achieve or surpass the state average of students meeting and exceeding standards on the Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests for every grade level and every subject this year.

Brookwood Elementary in Dalton, Westside Elementary in Whitfield County and Woodlawn Elementary in Murray County are the only schools among the elementary and middle schools in Dalton Public Schools, Whitfield County Schools and Murray County Schools to achieve that distinction.

The CRCT is given annually to students in grades one through eight in math, English/language arts and reading, and to students in grades three through eight in science and social studies. The tests are designed to measure how well students know the state curriculum and are also one factor in determining whether a school meets state and federal benchmarks for Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) under the federal No Child Left Behind Act. AYP results will be released later this year, and CRCT results will be updated after some students retake the tests.

At Brookwood, 100 percent of fifth-graders met or exceeded the standards on the English/language arts portion of the test. Third-graders at Northwest Elementary in Murray County achieved the same feat in reading. They are the only two schools among the three districts to have 100 percent of students in any one grade level and subject meet or exceed state standards.

Several area schools — Pleasant Grove Elementary, Tunnel Hill Elementary, New Hope Middle and Bagley Middle — met or exceeded the state average at every grade level and in every subject except for one.

The results are not so good for Park Creek School in Dalton where students fell below the state average in the percentage of students meeting and exceeding standards in 20 of 21 categories. The same scenario occurred at Eastside Elementary School, which came under investigation earlier this year after state officials began spotlighting schools that appeared to have a higher percentage of wrong answers erased and changed to right answers than the state average on the CRCT. Eastside fell into that category by 1/10th of a percentage point. State officials still have not released the results of the investigation.

Only in first-grade reading, where 94.3 percent of Eastside first-graders met or exceeded standards as opposed to 92.4 percent of students statewide, did the school exceed the state average. At Park Creek, 89.2 percent of second-graders met or exceeded the standards in math compared to 86.6 percent of students statewide.

Most school administrators are out for the summer. Whitfield County Schools spokesman Eric Beavers said the district’s staff is still reviewing the data. He noted that while CRCT scores “may provide some direction to help teachers fine-tune instruction,” they do little to help students improve their own achievement from year to year.

He said students in grades three through eight were given Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) tests three times last year. The tests measure students’ achievements over time and show specific areas where they need to improve. Since teachers receive the scores back within a day, they can immediately begin using them to better design lessons for individual students, he said.

“We also must consider how demographic challenges impact student performance on the CRCT,” Beavers said. “We know all students can learn, but everyone doesn’t have the same opportunities to help them succeed. Regardless of the challenges students may face, they are held to the same standards as students with strong support systems and educational resources at home.”

Beavers said officials are “proud” of the progress students have made in English/language arts and reading, but they know they need to improve in other areas, “especially math.”

At Cedar Ridge Elementary, which opened last year, the school missed the state average in 17 of 21 categories. In fifth grade, 15.5 percent of students met or exceeded standards in math.

“We know our students can learn the material,” Beavers said. “We just need to do a better job of teaching math concepts. Staff members are reviewing data from the CRCT and the MAP tests and working with teachers at Cedar Ridge to improve the design of math lessons for their students next year.”

Math standards have also become more rigorous, he added.

Barbie Kendrick, the elementary curriculum director for Murray County Schools, said teachers across the district are pleased with results at their schools.

“We did very well,” Kendrick said. “The teachers did a very good job.”

Woodlawn Principal Jackie Townsend said she is “very proud” of the school’s achievements.

“I would like to say thank you to all the students and teachers who did their best to achieve the highest standards for Woodlawn Elementary,” she said.

Murray officials are especially proud of this year’s results because the district was the first in the state to pilot a 160-day school year rather than the usual 180 days. While some programs and implementation methods vary from school to school, Kendrick said the basic curriculum is the same in each grade throughout Murray County. For some schools, such as Spring Place Elementary where there is a higher Hispanic population, demographics play a role in scores, Kendrick said.

She added that that school recently began a program to allow children to voluntarily come to school on Monday mornings during the summer. The program is open to any child at the school who wishes to attend, and the teachers who run it volunteer their time.

In Dalton Public Schools, Laura Orr, director of school support, said student performance is evaluated over time “with multiple pieces of data and with different tiers of personnel and stakeholders.”

“The CRCT results provide us with only one of the assessment indicators that are used to determine strengths, set goals, determine priorities and initiate any corrective actions,” she said. “The use of multiple indicators allows us to gauge progress over time and determine effectiveness of procedures and materials.”

Orr said any decisions based on this year’s preliminary CRCT scores would be premature. She said officials will also analyze each school’s improvement over time as well as concepts within the various subject areas that might need more attention.

“Decisions about program changes or corrective actions will be consistent with the district’s focus on student engagement and designing and refining the systems needed to ensure all students are provided high-content, engaging work,” she said.

Orr said officials will bring in teachers, administrators, school councils and out-of-district partners to help.

School rankings

By number of categories (by grade and subject) in which each school fell below the state average of students meeting and exceeding standards

Dalton Public Schools (elementary schools have 21 categories; middle schools have 15)

Elementary

Brookwood (0)

Westwood (3)

City Park (13)

Blue Ridge (16)

Roan (16)

Park Creek (20)

Middle

Dalton Middle (4)

Murray County Schools (elementary schools have 26 categories; middle schools have 10)

Elementary

Woodlawn (0)

Northwest (3)

Chatsworth (4)

Coker (4)

Eton (6)

Spring Place (7)

Middle

Bagley (1)

Gladden (3)

Whitfield County Schools (elementary schools have 21 categories; middle schools have 15)

Elementary

Westside (0)

Pleasant Grove (1)

Tunnel Hill (1)

New Hope (2)

Valley Point (4)

Varnell (4)

Beaverdale (8)

Dug Gap (9)

Dawnville (10)

Antioch (13)

Cohutta (14)

Cedar Ridge (17)

Eastside (20)

Middle

New Hope (1)

Westside (5)

Eastbrook (10)

Valley Point (11)

North Whitfield (12)

Source: www.gadoe.org