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Hall school officials 'quite pleased' with CRCT results

By Ken Stanford Contributing Editor
Posted 4:33PM on Wednesday 25th June 2014 ( 9 years ago )
GAINESVILLE - Hall County school officials said Wednesday afternoon they are "quite pleased," overall, with this year's CRCT results, which the state Department of Education released earlier in the day.<br /> <br /> "We made significant gains when comparing our performance to previous years and when comparing this year's growth rate to the state's growth rate," said Kevin Bales, Director of Middle Grades and Secondary Education for the Hall County School System. "We do so much more in our school system than simply prepare students for standardized tests, but it is always rewarding to see results that reflect the hard work of the students and teachers".<br /> <br /> Every content in grades 3, 5, and 8 in the Hall County School System experienced an increase in pass rate from the previous year.<br /> <br /> "More impressively," Bales added, "every content in those same grades outpaced the state growth rate. While many districts can show growth from year to year compared to themselves, you have to remember that approximately half will under-perform the state, half will out-perform the state averages. To out-perform the state across the board in a grade level is very positive."<br /> <br /> While we tested approximately 120 more students this year compared to last year, Bales said the district had 263 additional "exceeds" scores in math (4,448 total), 566 additional "exceeds" scores in science (4,222 total), 605 additional "exceeds" scores in reading (5,213 total), and 780 additional "exceeds" scores in social studies (4,342 total). "This is important," Bales said, "because we do so much more than simply teach competency or teach to the test. It was great to see the fact that we have many, many students who are simply "blowing these tests out of the water" and scoring 'exceeds'"<br /> <br /> He said the "meets" and "exceeds" (the state average) rates increased 11 percent in both 5th grade and 8th grade science. "Double digit growth at a district level our size is a rarity - over five times the state growth rate and double/almost triple the state growth respectively."<br /> <br /> Bales noted that when comparing the Hall County School District growth to state growth, only two grade level content areas reflected growth less than the state - 4th grade Math and 6th grade ELA. Each of the other 28 grade level content areas were at or above the state growth rates. <br /> <br /> (To see district-by-district results from around the state, click on the link below.)<br />

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