Writing scores up in county

Writing assessment scores for the county's fourth and seventh graders were up sharply this year, in what the schools superintendent termed a successful response to the state's new accountability requirements.

The overall percentage of pupils scoring at grade level went from 58.5 in 2000 to 83.2 this year, according to figures released last Friday by the Alleghany County Board of Education office. The testing was done earlier this month.

Under the accountability standards, pupils are now required to score at level three or above—that is, grade level—on end-of-grade tests to be promoted to the next grade.

Among county fourth-graders, 83.0 percent scored at grade level, up from 52.6 percent last year, while 83.3 percent of seventh-graders made the grade, a rise from 66.3 percent last year.

Scores were up statewide, although not as dramatically as here. A news release from the N.C. Department of Public Instruction indicated 68.8 percent of fourth-graders scored at least 2.5 on a four-point scale (the grade-level standard), an increase from 57.6 percent last year. Among North Carolina seventh graders, 73.3 percent of pupils scored at least 2.5, up from 71.9 percent last year.

For the 10th-grade writing assessment, statewide scores were down slightly, from 58 percent scoring at standard last year to 53.9 percent this year. Tenth-grade scores for Alleghany County were not released by presstime. High school testing is done on an end-of-course, rather than end-of-grade basis.

The 83.2 percent county total was easily the highest in at least five years.
 
 

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