Published: March 26, 2008 06:30 pm      

Area schools receive preliminary reading TAKS scores

By Tommy Mann Jr.

The Orange Leader



According to the Associated Press, 92 percent of Texas eighth-graders have passed the reading part of the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills.

The eighth grade students were required to pass the TAKS for the first time this year to be promoted. Of the 310,853 students who took the eighth-grade test, 25,644 students failed the standardized test but will have two more chances to pass it to avoid repeating eighth grade.

All eighth graders also must pass the TAKS math exam, to be given on April 8th. The students needing to retake the reading portion will able to do so on April 30 and July 2 if necessary.

Texas Education Agency officials on Tuesday also released test results for third grade and fifth grade students, which are the other two groups of students who must pass the TAKS to be promoted.

Statewide results indicate 88 percent of third-graders passed the TAKS reading exam, and 83 percent of fifth-graders passed, similar to last year's results.

The Texas Education Agency sets standards for individual tests, and the standards typically become more demanding year by year. This year, the “Acceptable” standard for reading is 70 percent. The “Recognized” standard in all subjects is 75 percent, and the “Exemplary” standard for all subjects is 90 percent.

After the first administration of the reading portion of the TAKS, third and eighth grade students in the West Orange-Cove Consolidated Independent School District have already met “Recognized” results.

According to preliminary results, 84 percent of West Orange-Cove eighth grade students have met standard. The reading portion of the TAKS test was only administered once in 2007, and 88 percent of those students met standard.

Third grade students at Anderson Elementary improved one percentage point from 2007 as 76 percent met the reading standard compared to 75 percent last year. A total of 87 percent of third grade students met reading standard in 2007 after all administrations.

Meanwhile, 61 percent of fifth grade students at Oates Elementary met standard for the March administration of the reading TAKS, which is down four percentage points from the 65 percent at the same time last year. A total of 72 percent of fifth graders met the reading standard in 2007 after all administrations.

“Literacy is the very heart of education,” said Dr. O. Taylor Collins, West Orange-Cove CISD superintendent. “We place more emphasis on reading achievement than any other domain of schooling. I am extremely pleased with these results on the first administration of the state’s test of reading achievement and am confident that we will see even more students pass the reading test by the end of the school year.”

Collins also said the district “will focus squarely on the individual students who need remediation and extra help to master the test on the next administration.”

Already on the 2008 TAKS, 26 percent of West Orange-Cove eighth graders have earned commended reading results, while 18 percent of third graders and 9 percent of fifth graders have achieved the same commended reading distinction.

Students in the Little Cypress-Mauriceville Consolidated Independent School District are off to a good start as well this year.

At Little Cypress Junior High, 96 percent of eighth grade students met standard with 61 percent earning commended status, while 97 percent of eighth grade students at Mauriceville Middle School met standard and 57 percent achieved commended status.

At both Little Cypress Intermediate and Mauriceville Elementary schools, 88 percent of fifth graders met standard. Of those meeting standard, 35 percent achieved commended status at the intermediate school and 33 percent earned commended at Mauriceville Elementary.

Third grade students did well on the first administration as well as 96 percent at Little Cypress Elementary met standard and 56 percent earned commended status, while 92 percent met the reading standard at Mauriceville Elementary and 46 percent earned commended status.

“We are very pleased with the results,” said Gaye Lokey, LC-M CISD director of secondary curriculum. “Especially the number of students who passed at the “commended” level which indicates the strength of the curriculum and instruction in the district.”

Bridge City Independent School District students improved significantly in the eighth grade level, as 96 percent of those students met standard on the first administration, which is four percentage points better than the 92 percent on the first administration in 2007.

Also, 56 percent of those eighth graders who met standard earned commended status.

Ninety-four percent of the fifth grade students met the reading standard this year, which is the same percentage as in 2007 after the first administration. Of that 94 percent meeting standard, 46 percent achieved commended status.

Third grade students at both Bridge City elementary schools declined one percentage point as 93 percent met standard in 2008 compared to 94 percent in 2007 after the first administration.

Of the 93 percent meeting standard, 43 percent earned commended status on the reading portion of the TAKS test.

“We are extremely proud of the number of students who have earned commended status,” said Dr. Jamey Harrison, BCISD superintendent. “We are seeing improved achievement in the number of students reaching this level, and we feel confident this number will increase along with our TAKS results following the next administration.”

Students in the Orangefield Independent School District continue to excel in reading as the latest results indicate.

At Orangefield Junior High, 96 percent of eighth grade students met standard compared to the 95 percent in 2007, while 94 percent met standard in fifth grade, which is four percentage points more than the 90 after all three administrations in 2007.

At Orangefield Elementary, 97 percent met the reading standard after the first administration, which is just one percentage point less than the 98 percent who met standard after all administrations of the reading TAKS in 2007.

In the Vidor Independent School District, third grade reading scores dropped slightly at all three campuses.

In 2007, 100 percent of third grade students met standard after the first administration at Oak Forest Elementary compared to the 98 percent in 2008.

Ninety-eight percent of third graders met standard at Pine Forest Elementary, which is one percentage point less than the 99 percent in 2007, while 90 percent of third grade children met standard at Vidor Elementary compared to 91 percent in 2007.

Fifth grade scores at Vidor Middle School improved significantly after the first administration of the reading TAKS as 89 percent met standard compared to just 84 percent at the same time last year.

In 2007, 90 percent of eighth-graders met standard after the only administration of the reading TAKS, which is slightly higher than the 89 percent after the first administration in 2007.

“We are very pleased with the results through the first run of the reading TAKS,” said Debbie Gier, Vidor ISD test coordinator. “Only 34 students did not meet standard at the middle school, and 38 did not meet standard at the junior high. These are both lower numbers than last year, and we feel they will improve greatly over the remaining administrations.”

Eighth grade students in the Deweyville Independent School District did well with the first administration of the reading TAKS as 94 percent met standard.

Eighty percent of fifth grade students met standard after the first administration, which is five percentage points more than the 75 percent which met the reading standard in 2007.

Third grade scores decreased from 93 percent in 2007 to 86 percent meeting standard after the first administration this year.

“We know we’ll improve more with the two remaining administrations of the reading TAKS in April and in July,” said Rick Summers, Deweyville ISD superintendent. “Our eighth grade students are off to a good start, and we just have to make sure our third-graders and fifth-graders are just as successful.”

Fifth and eighth grade students will take the math TAKS on April 8, while students in grades three, four, six, seven and tenth will do so on April 29.

Reading tests will be administered on April 30 to students in grades three through eight, while eleventh graders will undergo math.

On May 1, students in fifth, eighth, tenth and eleventh will participate in the first administration of the science TAKS test, while ninth grade students will take the math TAKS.

The social studies administration of the TAKS test will be given on May 2 to students in eighth, tenth and eleventh grade, while the second administration of math will be presented to fifth and eighth grade students on May 13.

Third administrations will be given to students in third, fifth and eighth grade during the first week of July.



Reach this reporter at 409-883-3571, Ext. 2619 or tmann@orangeleader.com