Madison County eighth and eleventh graders performed below the state average on writing assessment tests this year, while county elementary school fifth graders showed significant improvements over the previous year’s class.
Just over 10 percent of Madison County juniors taking the eleventh grade writing test for the first time last fall failed to pass.
The 313 Madison County eleventh graders who took the test finished 379th in the state, with 89.5 percent of first-time takers passing the writing test.
Meanwhile, 355 Madison County eighth graders ranked 291st in the state, with 80.8 percent meeting or exceeding the standards on the writing test.
At the elementary school level, the news was brighter. Fifth graders showed significant improvement on writing tests, with the percentage of students failing to perform at grade level dropping dramatically over the previous year.
In 2010, 19 percent of Madison County fifth graders performed below grade level on the writing test, but that number dropped to 7.4 percent in 2011. Meanwhile, more fifth graders performed above their grade level this year, too, with 24.2 percent of fifth graders writing above their grade level, compared to 17.9 percent last year.
While the news in the county varied regarding writing tests, school leaders said they are focusing on improving students’ writing skills — and that extends beyond English class.
The primary goals are to get students to write more often and give them regular feedback on what they’ve written. The eleventh grade writing test is in a persuasive essay format.
“One of the biggest things we’re doing is asking each department to have students write a persuasive essay per semester in English, social studies and science,” said Brittan Ayers, curriculum director for sixth through twelfth grades at Madison County. “Teaching writing isn’t just the English teacher’s job.”
Ayers said Madison County is contracting with Kevin Racynski of the Georgia Center for Assessment to provide post-planning writing assessment instruction to teachers at the middle school and high school this year.
“The middle school is pretty much doing the exact same thing (as the high school),” said Ayers.
Career, Technical and Agricultural Education (CTAE) teachers will also be trained in persuasive writing and how to grade essays. Likewise, Ayers said that when next year’s juniors take the writing test, the tenth grade — and perhaps ninth graders — will take a mock writing test.
“That will give us that outside view and give us a check point on how their writing is progressing,” said Ayers.
Middle schoolers will also get a chance to take mock tests before the official eighth grade test, though those essays won’t be strictly persuasive. Ayers said those essays will also include narrative and informational styles.
Interim school superintendent Allen McCannon said he was very pleased with the fifth grade writing improvements, but he said the scores for eighth and eleventh grades were disappointing. Still, he noted that Madison County has shown improvement on the writing test each year, including this year. He pointed out that two years ago the state average was 82 percent of students passing the writing test on the first try, while Madison County had an 86 percent average. He said the state average then shot up to 91 percent the following year, while Madison County’s only increased two percentage points. Then, the state average increased again this past year at a quicker rate than Madison County’s.
“I don’t really know why the state average shot up like that,” said McCannon.
McCannon noted that this year’s junior class showed some struggles on the eighth grade writing test and officials knew the writing exam could pose some issues for next year’s seniors.
The interim superintendent said school leaders were troubled by the writing results and are working aggressively to address writing issues.
“We have a lot of stuff put in place to help us,” said McCannon. “We’re encouraging more writing in class and more opportunities in which kids can do an essay in this format. We’re definitely stepping it up.”
