Improvements made in Polk EOCT scores, show need for work in math and sciences

Before of the start of school this week, teachers were at the Cedartown Performing Arts Center for the Polk School District’s annual meeting.

Superintendent William Hunter started off with a presentation on state test scores – specifically pointing out End of Course Test results – and exclaimed his joy at improvements at Cedartown and Rockmart high schools.

“We are on the move,” Hunter said.

Cedartown High School principal Darryl Weathrington agrees, but said he also sees room for improvement. He points to scores from Polk high schools that show definite improvement compared to 2013.

The positives are found in courses like American and 9th grade literature for both schools in the district, in coordinate algebra and U.S. History. Areas where students are still struggling include the sciences and math.

Breaking down the numbers, students in 2013-14 did their best in American and 9th grade literature. According to statistics provided by the state department of education, students in Cedartown and Rockmart met or exceeded the state’s baseline score more than 85 percent of the time in both subjects at both schools.

Students had more trouble with math than any other subject. Cedartown students in Analytical Geometry, did better than the state baseline score at 51.9 percent, but 48.1 percent of students failed to pass the test. Rockmart students in coordinate algebra only passed 26.7 percent of the time, compared to the 73.3 percent who didn’t pass the test.

History is another subject where students could use help in Polk high schools. Students who met or exceeded economics scores at Rockmart were recorded at 89.2 percent, more than Cedartown high students at who met or exceeded state standard at a rate of 78.9 percent.

U.S. History students, by comparison, met or exceeded standards at a rate of 81.9 percent at Rockmart and 61.5 percent at Cedartown high.

Educators also look to continue improvements in biology scores. Students met or exceeded state requirements 72.5 percent on the state test in Rockmart and 76.4 percent in Cedartown.

Laurie Atkins, the director of instruction and assessment for the Polk School District, said she was happy about gains made during the school year compared to 2012-13 numbers, but also sees room for improvement.

Atkins said the overall goal is to help students get their scores up, which will have the added benefit of ensuring students have an easier time graduating.

Weathrington said he’s looking forward to getting help in this area and one other: getting teachers to help each other with developing course plans to help student achievement.

A good example of this is how Rockmart teachers might help Cedartown teachers develop course plans for economics, a class in which Rockmart students did well in testing.

“If we could incorporate more real life experiences when it comes to budgeting, and get some cross curricular ideas, I think we’ll be able to improve our scores as well,” Weathrington said.

The overall goal in the end, Weathrington pointed out, is to ensure students are educated and graduate. He said there are many ways to accomplish this goal, but one is to make sure students will pass their end of course tests.

“We want high expectations, but we also understand that not every child is the same, and we have to accommodate different learning styles,” he said.