Published: August 29, 2008 12:24 pm         

RCISD records highest TAKS scores ever

RCISD records highest TAKS scores ever



By Leslie Gibson

Herald-Banner Staff



TAKS scores for “all” students in the Royse City school district for this year (2008) are the highest ever since TAKS (Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills) was introduced in 2003.

Taking “all” students in the six campuses tested, “exemplary” was achieved in the writing test, with 96 percent passing.

Test takers are African American, Hispanic, white and economically disadvantaged. They combine to form the category “all students”.

“Recognized” passing rates were made in reading, 94 percent; mathematics, 85 percent; and social studies, 95 percent.

The passage rate in science, 72 percent, is “academically acceptable.”

District-wide, scores in the “all” category for each subject have consistently risen since 2003, with the exception of a percent or two down or up in some years in some subjects. Math has increased the most, up from 58 percent in 2003 as a district-wide passing percent.

In all grades which take TAKS, math and reading are tested. Writing, social studies and science are in specific grades.

Elementary



It is in elementary that students begin TAKS in grades three, four and five. Only the fourth graders take writing, and only the fifth graders take science. In those two tests, retakes are not allowed.



Davis



Davis Elementary had the highest math passing rate in the district for grade four: 91.8 percent.

“Our fourth grade teachers managed to pull off those scores without the Sharon Wells Math,” noted principal Georgie Grossman. Sharon Wells Math is a district-wide problem-solving math program introduced at Davis last year in grades two and three.

Also highest among elementaries was the Davis fourth grade writing score: 97.2 percent.

Those two, combined with the 90.4 percent passing reading, put grade four in “exemplary” ranking.

A significant contributor to the fourth grade reading score of all, was the Hispanic subgroup, with just over 96 percent passing, a 33 point increase over last year’s 63 percent. As well, the fifth grade Hispanic subgroup had 92 percent pass reading.

All grades together in all subjects gave the school an “academically acceptable” rating.



Miss May Vernon



The Sharon Wells program was cited by principal Paula Walker as one key to the 97 percent math scores achieved in Miss May Vernon’s third grade. That, combined with a 96.5 percent in reading, gave that third grade an exemplary rating.

Fourth graders passed writing with just under 92 percent.

All grade levels, in all subjects tested give Miss May Vernon a ranking of “exemplary”.

Anita Scott



Grade 3 is in the exemplary range at Anita Scott. In reading, 96 percent passed, and in math, just under 96 percent percent passed.

Right up there was its writing passage rate for “all”: 95.2 percent.

Anita Scott Elementary is ranked as “recognized.”

W. R. Fort



W. R. Fort Elementary achieved “recognized status” — every grade level, in every subject was at the recognized level.

In writing, almost 97 percent passed, 15 points higher than the 82 percent last year.



All Elementaries



Each subgroup must succeed in order for the “all” group to succeed.

Sometimes marked improvements in a grade or group are still not enough to give a school an exemplary or academically acceptable rating.

Also significant, to advance to middle school, fifth graders must pass the math and reading portions of the TAKS.

Percentage of fifth graders passing reading at Davis last year is 95.7 percent, math, 83.7; at Miss May Vernon, reading 93.4 percent, math 98.4 percent; at Anita Scott, reading 91.4 percent, math 95.1 percent; at at W. R. Fort, reading 95.2 percent and math 97.6 percent.



Royse City Middle School



Middle school students in grades six and seven passed at percentages high enough to give those grades “exemplary” scores.

In grade 6, 95.6 percent of all students passed reading; 83 percent math.

Grade 7 was tested in writing, and of the 257 tested, passing were just under 97 percent. Grade seven also had 92.5 percent pass reading, and 89 percent pass math.

Grade 8 was brought down by science scores, with 60 percent passing. In reading, the almost 98 percent passed, and in math, it was 85.5 percent.

The school is ranked academically acceptable.



Royse City High School



Royse City High School also suffered with science grades, this time in grade 10, where just more than 65 percent passed.

However, grade 10 had the highest percentage passing reading for the three grades tested: almost 97 percent, every subgroup passing by 95 percent or better.

Also, compared to the freshmen and juniors, the sophomores had a higher gap, 23 points, between the reading and the math, which almost 74 percent passed.

Of the ninth graders, 94 percent passed reading; 79.2 percent the math, a 15 point difference.

Juniors had the lowest gap: about 11 points, due to their 94.5 percent in reading and their just under 83 percent in math. They also had just over 79 percent pass science.

The campus is ranked academically acceptable.