Mixed bag locally on CRCT scores

Among eighth graders, students in the Jefferson City School System were ranked tops in Georgia in math and science. Those students also placed fourth in social studies among districts in the state and 11th in reading. All of its eighth graders also passed the English/Language Arts (ELA) portion of the CRCT.

The Jackson County School System had more students passing all five subjects of the CRCT than the previous school year. The district placed 14th in eighth grade reading in the state among other school systems. It also placed 23rd in science, 28th in math and 33rd in social studies among eighth graders out of 179 public school systems in Georgia. After having all of its eighth graders pass the reading and ELA portions of the CRCT last year, the Commerce City School System saw one percent of its eighth graders fail those tests this year. Those results still placed the district among the best in the state.

However, Commerce eighth graders struggled with math with 28 percent failing that portion of the CRCT. Statewide, the average failure rate in math for eighth graders was 23.3 percent.

The Commerce City School System was ranked 117th in the state for eighth grade math. It placed 16th in reading, 39th in science and 53rd in social studies.

FIFTH GRADE

As for fifth graders, students in the Jefferson City School System scored among the 10 best districts in all portions of the CRCT. The city school system was ranked first in Georgia for science in fifth grade, despite having a higher percentage of students fail the test than last year.

Fifth grade science scores for the Jackson County School System and the Commerce City School System remained relatively the same from last year to the this year. Jackson County schools placed 9th in the state for fifth grade science and Commerce schools were ranked 14th.

The percentage of Jackson County fifth graders failing the math portion of the CRCT rose from 6.3 percent last school year to 11.1 percent this year. The district was 52nd in the state for those scores. Meanwhile, it was ranked 16th in Georgia for social studies and 27th in reading.

The Commerce City School System had more students fail the social studies of the CRCT — from 3.9 percent last year to 9.9 percent this year. Still, it was ranked 14th in social students among fifth graders, 17th in math and 29th in reading for districts in Georgia.

BACKGROUND

The CRCT is given to all students in third through eighth grade and is a measure of determining if those students know the minimum standards of the state’s curriculum.
State law requires that students in third, fifth and eighth grade meet or exceed standards in the CRCT in reading to be promoted to the next grade. Fifth and eighth grade students must also pass the CRCT in math.

For the past decade, the CRCT was a significant determination if schools and districts met the federal rules of the No Child Left Behind Act. Results of the CRCT have been used to label schools as meeting Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) or not. Those schools that didn’t make AYP faced a range of consequences.

However, Georgia has received a federal waiver from the No Child Left Behind Act as the state implements its new Common Core Georgia Performance Standards next year.

With those moves, the weight of the CRCT on accountability is expected to lessen until a national assessment is implemented in the coming years. Soon, other factors will be considered for school performance and accountability.