Denton ISD students show strong improvements on TAKS

by PegNews wire

Students in the Denton Independent School District demonstrated strong gains in almost every accountability area of the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS).

The students’ scores showed a one to seven percent growth in 24 of the 25 accountability areas of the 2006 TAKS results when compared to the 2005 tests.

“Overall, the students continue to make strong gains in most of the assessment areas. This illustrates that we’re continuing to make progress,” said Superintendent Ray Braswell.

The student groups that showed the biggest gains were Hispanic, African American and economically-disadvantaged students who gained 6 to 7 points on the science and the reading/English-language arts segments.

The African-American students showed a 7 percent gain in math, 6 percent increase in science and reading/language arts and three percent in social studies and writing. Hispanic students showed a 7 percent gain in science, 6 percent in reading and language arts, five percent in math, 3 percent in social studies and two percent in writing. Overall, there were no declines in any area.

“At the district level we improved in 25 of 26 accountability groups. In the area of social studies, the white subgroup maintained a 95 percent passing rate,” said Happy Carrico, executive director for curriculum, instruction and staff development.

The 26th group is the State-Developed Alternative Assessment II (SDAAII) for students with special needs. There was a four percent improvement with SDAAII results.

The other three groups - all students, white and economically disadvantaged - showed strong improvements of up to 7 percent in every subject area.

The school that demonstrated the strongest gains was Borman Elementary, where the science scores jumped from 30 percent last year to 68 percent this year. The school’s rating also increased to Acceptable. Last year it was ranked Academically Unacceptable because of the science test scores for Hispanic and economically disadvantaged.

Another area that had strong gains were the math scores at middle school level where Calhoun increased by 13 percent, Crownover by 11 percent, Strickland by eight percent and McMath by six percent.

At the high school level, students’ performance in Language Arts increased in the double digits. Ryan High’s scores jumped by 15 percent and Denton High’s by 12 percent.

“We feel good about the gains our students made. These improvements are the result of a lot of hard work from our dedicated teachers, staff and students,” Dr. Braswell said.

The Texas Education Agency implemented the new assessment and promotions standards in Spring 2003. The TAKS replaced the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS). Under the TAKS system, the accountability areas increased. The indicators include students’ results in reading or English and language arts, writing, math, science and social studies. Students are ranked in one or more groups: all students, Hispanic, African American, white, and economically disadvantaged.

“Although we made gains at the district level, we need to accelerate these gains to keep up with the state as it increases the requirements of being a recognized district,” Ms. Carrico said.

The district received the “Acceptable” rating from the Texas Education Agency Monday. The more diverse and larger the district, the more accountability indicators a district is required to meet. Denton ISD must meet 25 of the 25 indicators in the TAKS assessments.

At the campus level, seven elementary schools were named Recognized: Hawk, McNair, E.P. Rayzor, Pecan Creek, Providence, Ryan and Wilson. McMath Middle school also received a Recognized rating. They were among 3,380 public schools in Texas to earn the higher state ratings.

To gain “Exemplary” status, a district must have received a 90 percent passage rate in all accountability areas, have no more than a .2 percent dropout rate in seventh and eighth grades, and have 95 percent of the students complete high school. Plus, the SDAA II, which is an assessment for special education students, must have a 90 percent passing rate.

To achieve “Recognized” standing, a district must receive 70 percent passing rates on all TAKS areas or 65 percent passing rate with required improvements, plus an 85 percent high school completion rate, 70 percent SDAA II passage rate, and a .7 percent or less dropout rate in seventh and eighth grades.

To attain “Acceptable,” a district must attain at least 60 percent in reading (English/language arts), writing and social studies on all TAKS areas, 40 percent in math, and 35 percent in science. The district must also attain 50 percent on SDAA II passage rates, 75 percent on high school completion and 1 percent or less in dropout rates. For the 2005-06 school year, the Katrina and Rita evacuee students, which numbered from 115 to more than 150 throughout the year, were not included in the ratings.

This was the third year that the science scores counted on the accountability results at the elementary level, locally and statewide.

High school juniors must pass the exit level TAKS test – English/Language Arts, Math, Social Studies and Science – to graduate from high school. Third-graders must past the reading section to advance to fourth grade and fifth-graders must pass the reading and math to progress to the sixth grade. The TAKS testing program was created by the Texas Education Agency to insure that every child in public school succeeds.

Press Release