Scores show progress, help find weaknesses

By Beverly A. Carroll Staff Writer

Eight of 48 Hamilton County elementary schools earned top marks on state tests that measure how much students learn in one school year, schools officials said Thursday.

'When I see these scores, I see the commitment of teachers to make sure every child get what he or she needs,' Board of Education member Janice Boydston said at a news conference. A Lookout Valley Elementary School parent said she is proud that the school was one of the eight to score As in reading/language arts, science, math and social studies. The testing program, called Tennessee Value-added Assessment System, measures the amount a student learns in one school year. A grade of C means students made the expected amount of academic gains in one year.

'Seeing these grades, there’s no doubt that the school system has proven itself,' said Michele Hoge, mother of a fifth- and first-grader. 'It shows (teachers) know the job and the system is moving forward.'

The other schools earning all As were Calvin Donaldson, DuPont, Hardy, Hillcrest, Howard and Orchard Knob elementary schools, and Tyner Middle Academy.

Schools officials said the district’s overall performance in grades four through eight and at the high school level, where performance was gauged by ACT and Gateway scores, shows a positive upward trend. The district earned Bs in math, science and social studies and a C in reading/language arts.

'The TVAAS (Tennessee Value-added Assessment System) is important to us because it shows that we are making progress from year to year,' said school superintendent Jesse Register.

County Commissioner Curtis Adams on Thursday called the value-added scores meaningless. He said the schools that received As are low-performing schools.

State education officials said the TVAAS scores are an important indicator that a school is moving in the right direction. The scores are derived from annual standardized state tests given to students in grades four through eight.

'When you have a school that is performing below academic benchmarks but you see they are making gains, that is very heartening,' said state education department spokeswoman Kim Karesh. 'Grades higher than C means they are learning more than they need to know. They can catch up (academically) if they keep making progress.'

While low-performing schools earn good value-added scores, a number of high performing schools received Ds and Fs in value-added scores. Nolan Elementary on Signal Mountain, which has all As in achievement tests, received a D in math.

”TVAAS is an important measure of where you are going,' said Nolan principal Ken Barker. 'But the problem is when you get to the upper end of the scale, the more difficult it is to meet the standard that shows one year’s growth. You can have a student scoring in the 90 percentile miss one question more than he did the year before and that could knock him below a year’s growth.'

State education officials said TVAAS helps parents evaluate whether their teachers and schools are effective.

Don Beard, director of elementary education, said Hamilton County educators use TVAAS scores to tailor curriculum.

'In every school teachers go over test scores by grade and each student,' Mr. Beard said. 'They identify the ones who need extra help and who need enrichment and plan their programs. It may be tutorials, after-or before-school programs or a decision to hire interventionists.'

Kirk Kelly, schools director of testing and accountability, said the test scores enable teachers to review the academic history of a student.

'Ninth grade teachers will have their students’ eighth grade test data,' he said. 'Teachers don’t have to use class time to evaluate a student’s weaknesses and strengths.'

Lookout Valley Elementary parent Lisa Walker said she is concerned the school system won’t be able to continue improving because of cuts made last year to balance the budget.

'We’ve lost our before- and after-school programs and we lost a classroom and consulting teacher,' she said. 'We are fortunate here that we have a lot of parent volunteers to step in but what about other schools that don’t? I’m concerned about what next year’s scores will look like.'




E-mail Beverly A. Carroll at bcarroll@timesfreepress.com