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School district touts 'significant gains' in scores
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Published: July 3, 2009
School district touts 'significant gains' in scores
By MELINDA SKUTNICK
With newly released state assessment results in hand, the Mooresville Graded School District reports "significant gains" in 2008-09 testing scores as officials optimistically look toward continuing those improvements during the coming school year.
"It's good news for the MGSD, but it's also good news for the community," said Supt. Mark Edwards, noting that positive data often draws more families into the school district and town.
On Thursday, Edwards said the district achieved an 8 percent overall increase in proficiency test scores from 2007-08 to the previous school year. He added that all schools in the MGSD met or exceeded "expected growth" per the state standards, despite two tested areas – high school level English and chemistry – failing to improve.
Mooresville High's English scores dropped four percentage points, from 82 percent in 2007-08 to 78 percent in 2008-09, with chemistry declining by eight points, from 88 percent to 80 percent. Accounting for those shortfalls, Edwards said teachers and administrators need to "go back and fine tune" their programs and lessons in order to adequately cover the tested materials and allow students to excel on end-of-course assessments.
In the remaining 22 tested subject areas, the MGSD improved anywhere from 2 percent to 26 percent with the highest gains achieved in fifth grade science (15 percent), seventh grade reading (18 percent) and eighth grade science (26 percent).
Edwards said 2008-09 was the first school year in which fifth- and eighth-grade science scores were both tested and included in the state's ABCs accountability model, although students were tested in the 2007-08 school year as a pilot administration.
"The district was very pleased with the science scores," the superintendent said, noting that the teachers discovered after last year's pilot what course material needed the most focus for the assessment.
Overall, in non-high school science, the MGSD's measured composite growth was 20 points, from 54 percent to 74 percent, from the pilot year to the first accountable testing.
He added that, as individual schools, the MGSD remained successful. East Mooresville Intermediate met "high growth" and, along with Mooresville High and Mooresville Middle, earned the School of Distinction designation. School improvement status, however, has not yet been determined, said Edwards.
"Each school in the district has success stories to share in various areas of reading, math and science."
Looking at the new data, Edwards said the scores provide a valuable insight into specific courses.
"It's what we use as blueprints for school improvement plans," he said, adding that the data helps form individual teacher planning and lessons as well.
"It's a great opportunity to stop, reflect on where we are and plan for the future."
In 2009-10, Edwards said he expects the MGSD to continue excelling and meeting annual growth.
As the third grade moves back to the elementary level, making the district's three elementary schools – South, Park View and Rocky River – testing accountable, Edwards predicted "all those schools will be above 90 percent (proficiency) in math and English next year."
Specifically, the superintendent also said he foresees MHS's biology scores to surpass 90 percent – they scored 86 percent in 2008-09 – in the next school year and the district as a whole to reach 90 percent within the next two school years.
Currently, the MGSD is approximately 80 percent proficient.
But Edwards said gains in all subject areas are more than possible.
"I think we truly will have achieved district excellence in two years," he said. "It's easy to say that, it's very hard to do that."
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