Schools
Cobb Improves on CRCTs
Third-, sixth- and seventh-graders led the district's overall gains on the standardized exams.
students turned in a strong performance on the 2011 Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests (CRCTs), according to system-level results released Wednesday by the Georgia Department of Education.
Cobb students topped state averages for meeting or exceeding the standard in 29 of the 30 content areas, five for each of six grades. Third- to eighth-graders take the CRCTs in reading, English/language arts, math, science and social studies.
Third-, fifth- and eighth-graders must meet or exceed expectations on the CRCT in reading to be promoted to the next grade, according to state law. Fifth- and eighth-graders also must meet standards on the math CRCT to advance to the next grade.
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Third-, sixth- and seventh-graders led the way for Cobb County. Pupils in each of those grades increased or maintained their average scores from 2010 in four of the five content areas.
Overall, Cobb students improved in 20 of the 30 content areas.
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The sixth-graders turned in a particularly strong effort. In social studies, they improved from 70.9 percent meeting or exceeding the standard in 2010 to 76.4 percent this year. The jump was the largest in a category for any grade in the district. In science, 77.4 percent of sixth-graders met or exceeded the standard, up from 74.5 percent in 2010.
Sixth-graders also improved in reading, with 95.7 percent meeting or exceeding the standard, up from 94.2 percent, and in math, from 80.8 percent to 81.9 percent meeting or exceeding the standard.
The sixth-graders didn’t improve in English/language arts, however, with 93.4 percent meeting or exceeding the standard, compared with 94.1 percent last year.
"Our initial look at the district data shows some very positive signs, especially in language arts and reading, where about half of our students are not just meeting but are exceeding standards,” said Judith Jones, the district’s chief accountability and research officer. “In other areas, like math, where the results were inconsistent across grade levels, there may be (a) need to take a closer look at the data to determine if we need to adapt instruction or professional development.”
Jones is looking forward to getting the school-by-school data in early July.
“The school-level data is really more useful for tailoring instruction and making adjustments,” she said. “Additionally, we should point out that this districtwide data does not include results from the modified CRCT, which is a new test for certain students with disabilities. In the past, those students' results have been included in the CRCT report."
Cobb’s fifth- and eighth-graders produced better results in three of the five content areas.
The fourth-graders were the only pupils who didn’t have significant improvements; instead, a lower percentage met the standard in three of the five content areas:
- English/language arts, down to 90.3 percent from 90.5 percent meeting.
- Science, down to 82.4 percent from 82.8 percent.
- Reading, down to 90.4 percent from 92.9 percent.
The fourth-graders did better on math, jumping from 82.5 percent meeting or exceeding the standard in 2010 to 85 percent this year.