Harris County shines, ChattCo struggles on Georgia Milestones tests
The Harris County School District surpassed the Georgia average on 27 of the 32 tested subjects in grades 3-12 on the state's new and more rigorous standardized exams, and the Chattahoochee County School District went 4-for-32.
The Georgia Department of Education released this week the results of the Georgia Milestones for the state's public school districts and schools. The Ledger-Enquirer already reported the results for the Muscogee County School District, which didn't beat the state average on any of the tests.
The following analysis is based on defining passing the Georgia Milestones tests as scoring in the top two of the four achievement levels, Distinguished and Proficient.
Harris County
The public school students of Harris County beat the state average by double digits on the following tests:
Third-grade English language arts (48.6 percent to 36 percent) and science (49.2 to 34).
Fourth-grade math (52.3 to 39).
Fifth-grade English language arts (48.8 to 37) and math (52.1 to 39).
Sixth-grade math (46.2 to 35).
Seventh-grade science (53.6 to 35) and social studies (49.0 to 36).
Coordinate algebra (48.1 to 34).
"Coordinated efforts between teachers, administrators, and the central office staff have focused the instruction on particular areas of the curriculum so that we would establish a baseline that reflected rigor," Jeff Branham, the district's chief information officer, wrote in an email responding to the L-E's questions on behalf of superintendent Jimmy Martin.
The five tests in which Harris County didn't surpass the state average are eighth-grade social studies and the high school subjects of American literature & composition, analytic geometry, physical science and biology (tied).
"As with any new assessment program, we had areas of success and areas for growth," Branham wrote. "By receiving the scores, we will re-establish a baseline and begin our work for improvement. Later, we will begin viewing subgroup data to make certain all groups are achieving."
ChattCo
The public school students of Chattahoochee County surpassed the state average in the following subjects:
Third-grade math (41.9 percent to 38) and science (41.9 to 34).
Fifth-grade science (64.3 to 36) and social studies (54.8 to 29).
Tabatha Walton, the system's assistant superintendent for curriculum, instruction and assessment, explained on behalf of superintendent David McCurry the efforts behind those outstanding performances.
"Effectively implementing standard-based learning practices has resulted in students being capable of applying knowledge to solve problems," she wrote in an email to the L-E. "The consistency in implementation resulted in positive outcomes for these teachers and students. Additionally, these classes have well-established classroom rituals and routines which promote independent learning and an environment that is conducive to learning."
ChattCo, however, also has several scores that raise concern -- most notably the seventh-grade social studies test, which none of its students passed. ChattCo's passing rate was more than 17.1 percent on only one of the 12 tests in the middle grades of 6-8: eight-grade English language arts, where 31.0 percent passed.
Asked how the district is addressing this concern, Walton wrote, "We have created a focus area for improvement. We are establishing best instructional practices throughout the district by collaborating with teacher leaders from every school and providing appropriate and relevant professional learning in the needed areas. The agreed upon instructional practices gained from professional learning are monitored through observations and formative data.
Asked to explain the extreme divergence in the same subject from one grade level to the next, such as 64.3 percent passing fifth-grade science but 11.4 percent passing sixth-grade science, Walton wrote, "This is often seen in districts that do not have people overseeing effective teaching practices and grade level vertical alignment. It's also why the district, under my direction as curriculum director, is in the initial stage of creating systemic instructional practices that are implemented across all grade and content levels."
McCurry created Walton's position this summer and promoted her from principal of the Chattahoochee County Education Center. McCurry was principal of Cairo High School before ChattCo's board hired him in August 2014. Martin led ChattCo's schools for six years before leaving in July 2014 to replace the retired Craig Dowling in Harris County.
The Georgia Milestones Assessment System is the state's new set of accountability tests to measure how well public schools are teaching the mandated standards for grades 3-12 in English language arts, math, science and social students. The state's previous exams were the Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests, the End-of-Course Tests and the Georgia Writing Assessments. These were dropped last year in favor of the Georgia Milestones, which test students on the state's more rigorous standards.
The Georgia Milestones comprise two batteries of tests:
The End-of-Grade tests measure how well students in grades 3-8 have learned each content area.
The End-of-Course tests measure how well students in grades 9-12 have learned eight identified courses: Ninth-Grade Literature & Composition, American Literature & Composition, Coordinate Algebra, Analytic Geometry, Biology, Physical Science, U.S. History and Economics.
The Georgia Milestones were administered for the first time this past spring, so there isn't a data set to compare performance from previous years.
In addition to having a more rigorous curriculum, the state's new accountability tests are tougher. The Georgia Milestones included open-ended questions in English language arts and math, requiring students to explain their answers. The assessment of writing is part of the English language arts test.
The CRCT results were expressed in three categories: exceeds expectations, meets expectations and does not meet expectations. The results for the Georgia Milestones are expressed through four levels of achievement:
Beginning Learners haven't demonstrated proficiency and need substantial academic support to be prepared for the next grade level or course and to be on track for college and career readiness.
Developing Learners demonstrated partial proficiency and need additional academic support to ensure success in the next grade level or course and to be on track for college and career readiness.
Proficient Learners demonstrated proficiency and are prepared for the next grade level or course and are on track for college and career readiness.
Distinguished Learners demonstrated advanced proficiency and are well prepared for the next grade level or course and are prepared for college and career readiness.
Georgia law requires students in grades 3, 5 and 8 to be at or above grade level (Proficient or Distinguished) in English language arts to be promoted to the next grade. Georgia law also requires fifth-graders and eighth-graders to be at least a Developing Learner in math to be promoted to the next grade. But because this was the first year of the state's new tests, the Georgia Board of Education waived those requirements for the 2014-15 school year.
Mark Rice, 706-576-6272. Follow him on Twitter@MarkRiceLE.
GEORGIA MILESTONES RESULTS
Abbreviations: Proficient Learner (Pro.), Distinguished Learner (Dis.)
Numbers are percentages of students who scored at the Proficient or Distinguished levels, meaning they met or exceeded the state standards.
Note: The Georgia Department of Education released the state averages rounded to the nearest whole number and the district averages rounded to tenths.
THIRD GRADE
English Language Arts
District Pro./Dis.
ChattCo 32.6
Harris 48.6
MCSD 30.3
State 36
Math
District Pro./Dis.
ChattCo 41.9
Harris 45.3
MCSD 33.0
State: 38
Science
District Pro./Dis.
ChattCo 41.9
Harris 49.2
MCSD 25.9
State 34
Social Studies
District Pro./Dis.
ChattCo 18.6
Harris 38.4
MCSD 22.1
State 30
FOURTH GRADE
English Language Arts
District Pro./Dis.
ChattCo 29.7
Harris 42.5
MCSD 28.6
State 37
Math
District Pro./Dis.
ChattCo 24.3
Harris 52.3
MCSD 33.3
State 39
Science
District Pro./Dis.
ChattCo 32.4
Harris 43.1
MCSD 23.7
State 34
Social Studies
District Pro./Dis.
ChattCo 32.4
Harris 41.7
MCSD 19.9
State 35
FIFTH GRADE
English Language Arts
District Pro./Dis.
ChattCo 31.0
Harris 48.8
MCSD 26.1
State 37
Math
District Pro./Dis.
ChattCo 38.1
Harris 52.1
MCSD 33.2
State 39
Science
District Pro./Dis.
ChattCo 64.3
Harris 46.8
MCSD 25.7
State 36
Social Studies
District Pro./Dis.
ChattCo 54.8
Harris 33.2
MCSD 20.6
State 29
SIXTH GRADE
English Language Arts
District Pro./Dis.
ChattCo 17.1
Harris 39.8
MCSD 29.5
State 39
Math
District Pro./Dis.
ChattCo 11.4
Harris 46.2
MCSD 26.4
State 35
Science
District Pro./Dis.
ChattCo 11.4
Harris 47.9
MCSD 26.4
State 38
Social Studies
District Pro./Dis.
ChattCo 8.6
Harris 40.2
MCSD 20.5
State 32
SEVENTH GRADE
English Language Arts
District Pro./Dis.
ChattCo 5.9
Harris 39.8
MCSD 27.8
State 37
Math
District Pro./Dis.
ChattCo 11.8
Harris 46.1
MCSD 26.9
State 37
Science
District Pro./Dis.
ChattCo 5.9
Harris 53.6
MCSD 25.6
State 35
Social Studies
District Pro./Dis.
ChattCo 0.0
Harris 49.0
MCSD 26.9
State 36
EIGHTH GRADE
English Language Arts
District Pro./Dis.
ChattCo 31.0
Harris 42.7
MCSD 31.4
State 38
Math
District Pro./Dis.
ChattCo 14.3
Harris 40.3
MCSD 28.6
State 37
Science
District Pro./Dis.
ChattCo 11.9
Harris 33.3
MCSD 21.9
State 32
Social Studies
District Pro./Dis.
ChattCo 7.1
Harris 29.8
MCSD 21.0
State 33
HIGH SCHOOL
Percentage passing (Proficient or Distinguished learners)
Abbreviations: GA Georgia, CC Chattahoochee County, HC Harris County, MC Muscogee County.
9th LC Ninth-Grade Literature & Composition; AM.LC American Literature & Composition; C.ALG Coordinate Algebra; AN.G Analytic Geometry; P.SCI Physical Science; BIO Biology; US.H United States History; ECON Economics.
GA MC CC HC
9th LC 38 38 28 46
AM.LC 35 34 19 22
C.ALG 34 31 17 48
AN.G 33 32 10 21
P.SCI 31 30 19 29
BIO 38 33 28 38
US.H 39 36 14 40
ECON 39 34 15 45
This story was originally published November 17, 2015 at 5:29 PM with the headline "Harris County shines, ChattCo struggles on Georgia Milestones tests ."