Local, state writing scores suffer decline

Writing assessment scores for Alleghany's fourth and seventh graders were down sharply, with about one-third fewer pupils scoring at grade level this year than last year.

The drop was part of a statewide decline.

Scores in the "gateways" — the end-of-grade reading and mathematics tests given to third through eighth graders and used to determine promotion to the next grade — were down somewhat, but not nearly as dramatically as the writing scores. Rates of pupils passing the gateways were still in the 90-plus-percent range.

According to figures released by Alleghany County Schools, 55.3 percent of the county's pupils scored at grade level (level three or four; levels one and two are below grade level) in the writing assessments, compared to 83.2 percent last year and 58.5 percent for 1999-2000.

Among fourth graders, 51.6 percent scored at grade level, down from 83.0 percent last year, while 59.5 percent of seventh graders made the grade, down from 83.3 percent last year.

Statewide, according to a release from the N.C. Department of Public Instruction, 46.8 percent of fourth graders performed at grade level on the writing tests, a decrease from 68.8 percent last year and 57.6 percent in 2000. Among the state's seventh graders, 62.9 percent scored at grade level, compared to 73.3 percent in 2001 and 71.9 percent in 2000.

The scores are preliminary results; official results for the ABCs accountability report will be released in September.

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