Students slightly above average on TCAP tests: Warren County scores virtually the same as 2002
Warren County students continued to make steady, albeit small, academic gains last school year, according to the recently released school system results of the 2003 TCAP achievement test.
“We’re either at or above the state average in most subjects,” said school system director of instruction Bobby Cox. “We have improvements to make, but overall I feel good about what we see and where we’re headed.”
The achievement tests are part of the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program. They are given annually to the state’s students in grades three through eight. Students are tested in five subject areas: reading, vocabulary, math, science and social studies.
Each score represents a percentile ranking. A score of 50, for instance, means the student or grade in question scored as well as 50 percent of students nationally.
As in past years, local scores did not deviate very far from the 50th percentile mark. The highest score posted by county students this year was 58. This was made in the math category by school system third-, fourth-, and fifth-graders. This score is 2 percent higher than last year and 4 percent higher than this year’s state average.
The system’s lowest score, a 49, was posted by county sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-graders in the social studies category. Two percent below the state average, the 6-8 math category was the only one in which the system saw a decline over last year.
Cox said he expects county students to continue making gains in coming years now that system’s curriculum is fully aligned with the state curriculum through the use curriculum maps, which he said allows students and teachers to know exactly what will be tested.
Additional measures which should help county students include upcoming teacher in-services hitting the core subject areas as a well as participation in Follow the Leaders, a federal grant program helping schools achieve mandates set forth in the No Child Left Behind Act.
Further 2003 TCAP results are scheduled to be released in coming months. These include individual school results, as well as results broken down by such factors as race and socio-economic status.
TCAP Results
Grades 3-5
Subject WC State
score avg.
Reading 52 52
Language 52 54
Math 58 54
Science 51 51
Social Studies 53 51
Grades 6-8
Reading 52 52
Language 55 54
Math 55 54
Science 52 50
Social Studies 49 51