Tommy Mann, Jr.
The Orange Leader
ORANGEFIELD
June 07, 2009 08:39 pm
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The Orangefield Independent School District continues a trend of success as students meet or exceed standard on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills
Students in third, fifth and eighth grades are required to meet standard in various TAKS subject areas in order to advance to the next grade level, while juniors in high school must meet standard on the exit level TAKS in order to graduate.
Third grade students continue to do well, despite a slight drop in both reading and math. Reading results dropped 1 percentage point as 97 percent of students met standard this year, while 88 percent of students met standard in TAKS math, a 4 percentage point decrease from 2008.
Fifth grade scores held constant as well. Reading scores declined by 1 percentage point as 93 percent of students met standard this year. Math scores dropped by 3 percentage points as 92 percent met standard, while 91 percent of fifth grade student met standard in science, a decline of 4 percentage points.
Eighth grade students made improvement in three of the four TAKS subject areas this year, especially in reading as 100 percent of all eighth graders met standard, a 3 percentage point increase over 2008.Eighth grade math scores improved by 6 percentage points as 94 percent met standard this year, and science results increased from 71 percent meeting standard in 2008 to 81 percent meeting standard this year.The only subject in which students did not improve was social studies, which experienced a 6 point drop from 2008 as 85 percent met standard in 2009.
Eleventh grade students must meet standard on the exit level TAKS test in order to graduate, and, judging by this year's results, educators were very successful in preparing the high school juniors for mastering the TAKS.Student scores remained nearly the same in each subject area, despite a slight drop in each.
Ninety seven percent of juniors met standard in English and language arts compared to 98 percent in 2008. Math scores declined by 1 percentage point from 2008 also as 90 percent met standard this year. Science scores dropped by 2 percentage points as 86 percent of students met standard this year, while 97 percent of juniors met standard in social studies, which was also a 1 percent drop from the previous school year.
The most noticeable decrease for the district was sixth grade math, which showed an 11 point drop as 83 percent of students met standard this year compared to 94 percent in 2008.
Tenth grade science results dropped by 8 percentage points from the previous year, but are expected to improve as these students become juniors and take part in the exit level TAKS test.
Fourth grade students showed improvement in each of the three TAKS subject areas for that grade, including a 9 point increase in math over 2008 results as 87 percent met standard.
Reading scores improved by 3 percentage points and writing results improved by 1 percentage point.All in all, students in Orangefield ISD continue to perform well in all areas of the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills.
“I am very proud of the progress and hard work the teachers and students put forth,” said Stephen Patterson, Orangefield ISD director of curriculum. “Our teachers go above and beyond the call of duty to assist our students, and they have done an outstanding job once again.”
Orangefield 2009 TAKS results
Grade Subject 2008 Pass 2009
3rd Reading 98 70 97
3rd Math 92 55 88
4th Reading 89 70 92
4th Math 78 55 87
4th Writing 90 70 91
5th Reading 94 70 93
5th Math 95 55 92
5th Science 95 50 91
6th Reading 95 70 94
6th Math 94 55 83
7th Reading 95 70 91
7th Math 92 55 86
7th Writing 99 70 97
8th Reading 97 70 100
8th Math 88 55 94*
8th Science 71 50 81
8th Soc. Studs. 59 70 85
9th Reading 99 70 94
9th Math 79 55 80
10th Eng./LA 95 70 96
10th Math 78 55 76
10th Science 76 50 68
10th Soc. Studs. 89 70 93
11th Eng./LA 98 70 97
11th Math 91 55 90
11th Science 88 50 86
11th Soc. Studs. 98 70 97
Tommy Mann Jr. is a reporter for The Orange Leader. He can be reached at 409-883-3571, Ext. 2619 or tmann@orangeleader.com
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