Henry Daily Herald

McDONOUGH — School-level results are in for the state’s Spring 2012 Criterion-Referenced Competency Test (CRCT), but with mixed results for Henry County students.

Timber Ridge Elementary School was a top performer in Henry County Schools on the reading and math portions of the CRCT, according to data released Thursday by the Georgia Department of Education. The state’s findings exclude CRCT retest results.

State law requires that students in third-, fifth-, and eighth-grade meet, or exceed expectations on the CRCT in reading, in order to be promoted to the next grade. Fifth- and eighth-graders must also meet, or exceed expectations in math, for promotion.

Based on those expectations, nearly every student at Timber Ridge Elementary is eligible for promotion.

The school’s principal, Pam Consolie, confirmed the school’s entire fifth-grade class met, or exceeded state standards in reading, on their first attempt on the CRCT.

“It’s to the credit of every teacher on the grade level,” said Consolie.

State data revealed that about 98 percent of the school’s third-grade class passed the math portion of the assessment, with 97.1 percent passing score in reading (71.6 percent of them exceeded state reading standards).

“We differentiate instruction so that we can meet the children exactly where they are, so we can provide mediation in their area of weakness and accelerate in the areas of strength,” explained Consolie.

The school administrator said math has been a focus at schools for the past several years and that the faculty provide extra time daily for math instruction.

“Some kids are really strong in computation, and they can’t do fractions,” Consolie said. “So, if we’re going to excel, we’re going to have to work with each individual child, down to each individual area of instruction within the curriculum. And, that’s what we strive to do.

“Math has been an area where we have had to work, but at the same time keeping our reading and language scores shored up,” she continued. “We have a role to play in helping students be competitive in the world, because [preparing for] graduation doesn’t start in 12th-grade.”

Other schools that performed well include Hickory Flat Elementary and Walnut Creek Elementary, whose third-grade classes passed the CRCT in reading at rates of 99 percent and 98.4 percent, respectively.

Walnut Creek Elementary’s third-grade class also excelled on the CRCT in math, passing at 98 percent. Third-graders at Woodland Elementary passed the math test at a rate of 95.5 percent.

Conversely, there was the math performance of third-graders at Oakland Elementary, who failed the test at a rate of 33.7 percent. The school’s fifth-graders also failed math standards at 36 percent, according to state data.

Following closely behind Timber Ridge Elementary’s perfect performance in reading on the CRCT were fifth-graders at Ola Elementary (98.8 percent), East Lake Elementary (98.3 percent), and Dutchtown Elementary (98.2 percent).

Meanwhile, New Hope Elementary fifth-graders passed CRCT math at the highest rate in the school district, at 98.3 percent.

CRCT school-level results also indicated high performances among eighth-graders at Union Grove Middle and Luella Middle in reading. Approximately 99.5 percent passed at Union Grove Middle, and 99.2 percent passed at Luella Middle.

The state reported that Union Grove Middle School pupils passed at a rate of 92.3 percent in eighth-grade math.

To view full school-level CRCT results, across grade levels and subject areas, visit the state education department web site at www.gadoe.org.