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| Written by Catherine Holmes | |
| Friday, 11 May 2007 | |
TROUP COUNTY STUDENTS SCORE SIGNIFICANT GAINSON HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION TEST
The results are in from the Georgia Department of Education on the High School Graduation Test and the news is good. Troup County School System scores met or exceeded the state average in English/language arts, math and science, and made significant gains in social studies. "Our high school staff should be proud of these results,” said Superintendent Edwin Smith. “Throughout the year we have noticed the intensity, focus, and their extraordinary efforts to promote student achievement. They continue to set high expectations for themselves and their students. We greatly appreciate their commitment to continuous improvement."“Seeing the gains made in English/language arts and science confirms the strength of our teachers in utilizing the Georgia Performance Standards in the two core subjects where new standards have been in place the longest,” said Gayle Golden, assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction. The most impressive gains came in the area of science, where each of the three high schools improved by at least 7 percentage points compared to the state’s gain of 2 points. Even in social studies where Troup County schools averaged two points below the state average, all three high schools showed gains over scores from last year, bringing the system average up four percentage points and further closing the gap between system and state averages. LaGrange High School, whose students earned the highest gain in social studies, credits their success across the board to the combined efforts of staff, parents and students. “I’ve never seen a greater commitment from so many stakeholders as we saw this year,” said Principal Steve Cole. “Our plan focuses on the exposure of our students to quality curriculum through proven effective, research-based strategies and methods. A major component of our plan is what we call the ‘Blue Blitz.’ This is basically a remediation / review program that we try to tailor for individual students based on a set of diagnostic exams.” Kevin Jones, principal of Callaway High School is encouraged by the gains achieved by his students and is especially proud of their performance in science. “We learned this week that David Curtis, the head of our science department was named system Teacher of the Year. Outstanding instruction from teachers such as Mr. Curtis, coupled with the hard work of our students has really paid off.” Students received preliminary reports of test scores in April for all categories excluding writing. Official reports in these categories will be given to students on Friday. Results from the writing portion of the test were provided earlier. The Troup County system average in writing fell one point below the state average. As teachers and students prepare for state changes to the writing assessment in the coming year, writing instruction will continue to be a focus for improvement system-wide. Troup High School students, however, succeeded in making a two point gain in writing this year. "The writing test scores at THS have continued to climb each year,” said Principal Bill Parsons. “It is a direct result of the school-wide commitment by all staff to teach the writing process and have students write in each subject area - not just English classes. Students have bought-in to the school-wide effort and have worked hard in all subjects in an effort to lead the state.”The Georgia High School Graduation Test assesses students in five subjects: English/language arts, mathematics, social studies, science and writing. The writing assessment is administered in September, while the remaining portions are administered in March. Students take the test in their junior year and are given four additional opportunities to retake any portion of the test they do not pass. Students must pass all five portions of the test in order to be eligible for a Troup County high school diploma. |
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