Students struggle to write well: Test shows county ranks below average
Only about half of the rising senior class at Warren County High School can write at or above a competent level, according to data recently released by the state Department of Education.
The data, taken from the 2002 TCAP Writing Assessment, also shows 62 percent of county fourth-graders and 79.9 percent of seventh-graders are competent writers. Figures for all three grades tested are below the state average.
Dianna Zadeh, school system Director of Testing, ESOL and Equity, said while the scores are not where school officials would like them, they are an improvement.
“We’re pleased with the improvement, as long as we continue to improve. Eventually we’ll get to where we need to be,” Zadeh said. “This year we made gains across the board, with significant gains in seventh grade.
The writing assessment became a requirement for all fourth-, seventh- and 11th-graders during the 1994-95 school year. It is based on a State Board of Education regulation to ensure all Tennessee students are able to write well.
The test itself is performance-based and requires students to write a timed essay on a specific topic. Fourth-graders write a narrative essay, seventh-graders write an expository essay and 11th-graders write a persuasive essay. The test is graded on a 6-point scale with 1 representing deficient, 2 representing flawed, 3 representing limited, 4 representing competent, 5 representing strong and 6 representing outstanding.
County fourth-graders posted an average score of 3.62. Seventh-graders averaged 3.87, while 11th graders averaged 3.4. With an average score of 4.08, the seventh-graders at Dibrell Elementary posted the highest average score in the county. At 93.8 percent, they also had the highest percentage of students scoring at or above the competent level.
Morrison fourth-graders posted the lowest average score, at 3.33, while Centertown fourth-graders posted the lowest percentage scoring competent or above, at 50 percent.
TCAP writing scores
How each county school fared on the 2002 TCAP Writing Assessment. Shown are the percentage of students at each school who passed the test and the average score posted by the students.
School Grade % passed Avg. score
Centertown 4 50.0 3.58
Centertown 7 78.6 3.79
Dibrell 4 58.5 3.71
Dibrell 7 93.8 4.08
Eastside 4 72.9 3.94
Eastside 7 80.0 3.74
Hickory Creek 4 61.5 3.66
Irving College 4 64.3 3.46
Irving College 7 71.4 3.71
Morrison 4 56.5 3.33
Morrison 7 76.7 3.95
Bobby Ray 4 58.7 3.49
Middle School 7 79.4 3.90
High School 11 50.8 3.40
West 4 68.7 3.70
TCAP Writing Assessment Grading Scale
1 – Deficient 4 – Competent
2 – Flawed 5 – Strong
3 – Limited 6 – Outstanding