Local students improve scores on national test
2/11/2010
| Chattanooga Times Free Press
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By Kelli Gauthier kgauthier@timesfreepress.com
Hamilton County Schools has some test scores to celebrate, the system announced Wednesday.
After the district slipped in many academic areas on last year’s state standardized test — middle schoolers, in particular — officials announced that eighth graders outpaced their counterparts nationwide this year in a precursor to the ACT.
Students’ scores last year on the Explore test went down, just like they did on the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program test. So officials are hopeful that this year’s state test will mirror an upward trend in the national one.
“It’s a good indicator that we’ve made some positive changes,” said Kirk Kelly, Hamilton County’s director of accountability and testing. “We’re hoping this will be a good indicator that we’ll do well this year.”
Students took the national Explore test in November 2009 and will not take the state test until April.
Hamilton County’s composite score improved from a 14.9 out of 25 in 2009 to a 15.3 in 2010. The national composite score is 15.3.
Students take the Explore test in eighth grade, followed by the Plan test in 10th, and typically the ACT in 11th or 12th.
The purpose of the tests is to show whether students are prepared to make A’s or B’s in freshman-level college courses.
Kelley Kuhn teaches eighth-grade science at Center for the Creative Arts, and she said the tests help her know which concepts students understand and which they may need more help to master.
“The Explore guides us, but only that it prompts us to teach at a really high level,” she said. “Ultimately, we’re a college prep school, so we want to know that we’re keeping our kids on track and getting them ready for college.”
EXPLORE TEST
Hamilton County composite score
• 2008: 15.1*
• 2009: 14.9
• 2010: 15.3
National composite score
• 2010: 14.9
*Score is out of a perfect 25
Source: Hamilton County Schools
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