|
A Message from |
|
Measurement of Success - Our Testing Program |
|
Cobb County students consistently score high marks, a result that the District attributes to a concentrated focus on improvement across the system by identifying specific areas for improvement and implementing changes made in the ways teachers approach the instructional process. The District also continues to closely monitor the performance of special education students and those with limited English proficiency, as well as regular program students, in accordance with the federal No Child Left Behind Act. From the integration of technology with classroom instruction and an increasing emphasis on using test data to diagnose student needs to staff development designed to support teachers in learning new ways to instruct students, the testing program supports the District’s ultimate goal of excellence for its students. The following are summaries of the testing performed in Cobb County during the 2002-03 school year, with some data reflecting the current 2003-04 school year. For a complete listing of test results, including results by specific schools, click here. Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (ITBS)
The Iowa Tests of Basic Schools (ITBS) was administered in the fall of 2003 to grades three, five and eight. A norm-referenced test, the ITBS is designed to assess students’ skills in core subjects, including reading, language arts, math, social studies, science and information processing. Across the District, students scored above the national average in all subject areas (Composite). As a group, students in the third grade scored as well as, or better than, 73 percent of students across the nation, while fifth grade students ranked in the top 71 percent nationally. These scores reflect a two percent improvement for students in both grades since the last administration of the ITBS in March 2003. Eighth grade students scored at the 62nd percentile, down only slightly from the spring administration, where they scored in the 64th percentile. On the ITBS core subjects, elementary students performed strongest in language arts, where third and fifth grade students scored in the 73rd percentile. The overall score for core subjects placed third and fifth grade students in the 71st percentile nationally, while eighth grade students ranked in the 63rd percentile. Fifty-one of the 63 elementary schools in the District scored at or above the national average on the overall composite score for both third and fifth grades. Two-thirds of the middle schools ranked above the national average, with 18 of 24 schools’ eighth grade students scoring at or above the national average. Criterion-Referenced Competency Test (CRCT)
A state-developed test, the Criterion-Referenced Competency Test (CRCT) is a curriculum-based assessment that measures how well students are learning the Georgia Revised Quality Core Curriculum. District scores for the CRCT, administered in the spring of 2003, show that Cobb students in grades four, six and eight are learning the curriculum better than their peers across the state, with students surpassing state mean scores in all academic areas and at every grade level tested. The county also had a higher percentage of students meeting or exceeding the standards than other districts in Georgia. Students were tested in the areas of Reading, English/Language Arts, and Mathematics, with results measured in three performance categories including “not meeting” standards, those “meeting” standards, and those “exceeding” the standards. Cobb had a larger percentage of students meeting or exceeding the standards in all three academic areas than was typical across the state. For example, the percentage of students meeting or exceeding the standards in Reading was 81 for fourth grade (one percent higher than the state), 83 for sixth grade (one percent higher), and 85 for eighth grade (four percent higher). These high scores suggest that Cobb’s instructional program has prepared students better than most areas of the state. Georgia Middle Grades Writing Assessment (MGWA)
The MGWA measures five areas of effective writing including content/organization, style, sentence formation, usage and mechanics, and is scored within a range of 300 to 400. Students write a composition on an assigned topic and chose between narrative, expository or persuasive writing style. A score of 368 or higher falls under the “Exceeds Target” category, which is the highest possible category indicating a students’ superior performance on the test. An impressive 29 percent of Cobb eighth graders scored in the Exceeds Target category, up from an already impressive 26 percent in 2002. That compares to 24 percent of students in the metro area and just 19 percent statewide who qualified for the highest category. Georgia High School Graduation Test (GHSGT)
GHSGT results for 2003 showed that Cobb 11th graders topped their peers statewide and in a metro Atlanta comparison group in all subjects. At several Cobb County high schools 100 percent of the students passed the English and mathematics sections of the test. In the English/language arts subject area, the District reported a 98 percent passing rate, with an average score of 551, which is six points higher than the state average. Several schools reported a 100 percent passing rate, including Harrison, Lassiter, Pope, Sprayberry, and Walton high schools. Cobb’s average score for mathematics was 543, which is four points higher than the metro Atlanta average and topped the state average by seven points. Students also performed well in the content areas of social studies and science with 91 percent and 83 percent passing, respectively. Results in the Pass Plus category are perhaps the biggest indicators of Cobb students’ academic excellence. The Pass Plus category recognizes individual students whose scores far exceed the minimum passing score — a distinction meant to challenge all high school students by adding a higher standard of performance. Systemwide, 76 percent of Cobb students scored in the Pass Plus range for English/language arts, with an impressive 10 high schools, including Harrison, Kell, Kennesaw Mountain, Lassiter, McEachern, North Cobb, Pope, Sprayberry, Walton, and Wheeler high schools, boasting more than 75 percent of students at this top level. Pass Plus performance in mathematics was more than 75 percent at Harrison, Lassiter, Pope, and Walton high schools. Students scored well on the writing portion of the GHSGT as well with Cobb students topping state averages both in mean score and in the percentage of students passing the test on the first try. In Cobb, the pass rate for the writing section was 94 percent, a rate three percent higher than the state and 1 percent higher than other school systems in the metro Regional Education Service Agency (RESA) area. Cobb’s average scale score on the writing portion was 529, which exceeded the state average of 525 and the RESA average of 527. Core Challenge Tests
The Core Challenge Tests assess how much Cobb County high school students have learned in a particular subject. Students are tested twice — once at the start of a course and again at the end — in eight courses, including Algebra I, Geometry, Ninth Grade Literature/Composition, American Literature/Composition, Biology, Physical Science, Economics, and U.S. History. Core Challenge Tests account for one-half of a student’s final exam grade. Scores, called gains, represent the progress students make from the beginning of a course to the end of a course, and overall increases in scores ranged from 18-36 points. In 2003, Cobb students showed the highest gains in math, with increases of 35 points in Geometry and 36 points in Algebra I. These results are consistent with the pattern from the 2002-03 school year where students in math courses made the greatest gains in Core Challenge testing. On average, Cobb students gained about 25 points from the beginning of a course to the end of a course during the 2002-03 school year. Students topped the passing score of 70 on seven out of eight Core Challenge Tests for 2003. Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) The Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) measures how well a student has learned the skills needed to succeed in college and is required for admission to most colleges and universities. The SAT is divided into two academic areas — verbal and mathematics components. The verbal section measures a student’s ability to use vocabulary and comprehend complex reading passages while the mathematics section measures arithmetic reasoning along with geometry and algebra skills. The highest attainable score for the SAT is 1600 — 800 for the verbal section and 800 for math. Cobb’s graduating seniors for 2003 posted an impressive average total score of 1038, a six-point increase over last year’s results and well above the national average of 1026. In addition, Cobb students topped their statewide peers by 54 points. Even more impressive is that five of Cobb’s 13 participating high schools had averages higher than the national average, and Walton High School’s average score of 1141 is the highest among metro Atlanta public schools. Cobb’s average verbal score of 520 was 13 points higher than the national average of 507 and 27 points higher than the state mark of 493. Math scores were up by one point at 518. These gains reflect two consecutive years of improvement in SAT scores for the county. These results are even more impressive when considering that a much higher percentage of Cobb students take the SAT than statewide or nationally. In Cobb, 83 percent of graduating seniors took the SAT, while only 46 percent took the test nationally. American College Testing Program (ACT) The American College Testing Program (ACT) is another test used to predict a student’s potential for success in their freshman year of college. The ACT is divided into four testing components — English, mathematics, reading, and science reasoning. The ACT is scored in a range of 1 to 36. Graduating seniors in 2003 showed improvement over last year’s ACT scores in all areas, including the overall composite score with a result of 21.4, which is higher than the national average of 20.8 and the state average of 19.8. Scores for Reading, English and the Composite were at their highest level in five years. Cobb reported an average score of 21.2 (out of a possible 36) on the ACT Math test, compared to the national average of 20.6 and the state average of 19.7. In Reading, Cobb students averaged 21.8, which is up from last year’s score of 21.2 and puts them ahead of national and state averages.
|
The
Cobb County School District’s pursuit of excellence in education
continues through the system’s testing program, which demonstrates
students’ achievement through assessment and testing. The
Standardized Testing Program includes both curriculum-based tests,
which show how students compare to an established standard, and
norm-referenced tests, which show how well students are doing in
comparison to other students across the country.
Results from the 2003
administration of the Georgia Middle Grades Writing Assessment (MGWA)
showed that Cobb eighth graders continue to exceed the average
scores of their counterparts across the state and in the metro area
for the fourth straight year. Cobb students had an average scale
score of 364, compared to an average score of 362 for students in
metro Atlanta and 361 statewide.
As part of the statewide
testing program, 11th graders are administered the Georgia High
School Graduation Test (GHSGT) each year. Tested in four subject
areas — English/language arts, mathematics, social studies, and
science — students must pass each section as one requirement for
earning a Georgia high school diploma. Scores range from 400-600,
with 500 as a passing score.
