Stevens sees room for growth at schools

By Leslie N. Dees

September 03, 2009 09:31 am

— Attala County School District Superintendent Larry Stevens said he has been reviewing the schools testing results for quite sometime.
While the district has improved overall, Stevens said there is room for the schools to grow and become better academic achieving institutions.
“We have a made a small gain,” he said.
The two high schools, Ethel and McAdams, did the best in the Subject Area Testing Program section on History with 100 percent passing.
Then comes the results in Algebra I and Biology I.
English is the hardest and our lowest, Steven said.
With English being the weakest in all schools, Steven said there has been more uninterrupted reading time in the elementary schools of Greenlee and Long Creek and there has been more utilization of Read 180 and Achieve3000, which is used in the third through eighth grades.
“Our teachers are trained and know what they are doing,” Stevens said.
The improvement of test scores does not lie strictly on the shoulders of the teachers but the parents as well.
We need more parental involvement at every grade level, Stevens said.
He also encouraged parents to better prepare their children for pre-kindergarten and kindergarten.
The test results will help determine the new labels for schools and districts using the new accountability ratings model. Under the old model, schools were rated level one to five, with five being the highest. This year, a school will be labeled from highest to lowest: Star School, High Performing, Successful, Academic Watch, Low Performing, At-Risk of Failing and Failing. Districts were not rated last year while the new model was being developed. New labels for schools and districts will be determined and made available in the fall.