Schools miss state average
♦ County elementary and middle schools scored higher on average in Georgia Milestones testing.
The five local high schools mostly fell short of the state averages with elementary and middle schools scoring higher in most cases, according to the spring 2019 Georgia Milestones tests.
On average, Floyd County elementary and middle schools scored higher than average on most tests while city elementary and middle schools scored lower than the median scores in most cases.
The Georgia Department of Education released the results of the end-of-course and end-of-grade tests taken by Rome and Floyd County third- through 12th-graders on Friday for the 2018-2019 school year. The end-of-grade tests will be the only ones reflected here since endof-course test data did not offer a median score for state or district.
Local elementary and middle school students were tested on English language arts and math with fifth- and eighth-graders taking additional science and social studies tests.
Rome and Floyd County high school students were tested in six subjects: American literature, algebra I, geometry, biology, U.S. history and economics. The state average is a compilation of test scores from across Georgia and is used by the state to measure academic growth.
According to a release from the GDOE, overall Georgia students showed strong gains with scores increasing or holding steady on 25 of 26 assessments – the strongest overall gains recorded in the five years the assessment has been administered.
Out of 16 areas, third through eighth grade county schools students scored higher than the average state scores 11 times and fell below state median scores five times. Those students were scored below state levels in fifth grade math, sixth grade ELA, seventh grade ELA and eighth grade ELA and science.
Data from the GDOE shows city school third-graders performed above average on math and eighth-graders met the state average in math at Rome Middle.
The county and city high school scores were a mixed bag.
Armuchee High School scored higher than the average state score in four out of six subjects. The algebra I scores were only eight points below the state average and biology scores for the school were only six points lower. Armuchee was the only local high school to beat the state average in U.S. history and economics.
Model High School went above state averages in three subjects: American literature, geometry and biology, while falling short in algebra I, U.S. history and economics. Model was the only local school
to beat out the state average for biology. MHS students scored an average of 542 compared with the state average of 527.
Rome High School ranked third among the local high schools and only scored higher than state average in one subject, geometry. Rome High fell short of meeting or exceeding state averages by as little as seven points in biology and as much as 22 points in economics.
Coosa High School only met one state milestone average out of six subjects. The school median score was a 515 on the geometry assessment which equaled the state average exactly.
Pepperell High School came in below the state average on every one of its milestone assessments. Pepperell students scored highest on their biology assessment with an average school score of 521, only six points away from tying with the state. The school’s lowest score was 502 on the U.S. history assessment, 25 points from surpassing the state average.