Published: June 07, 2007 11:43 pm      

VISD shows great improvement on TAKS

By Tommy Mann Jr.

The Orange Leader



The Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills results have been received across the state, and area schools seem to have made great strides.

Students of the Vidor Independent School District also showed great improvement in many areas and surpassed the state average scores in most subjects.

Elementary students in third and fourth grades showed slight improvement in math scores as each grade level increased 1 percentage point compared to 2006.

The May results of the second administration of math for fifth-grade students shows 96 percent met standard this year compared to 92 percent in 2006. This is also well above the state average of 85 percent.

However, sixth-grade math scores dropped from 74 percent in 2006 to 73 percent in 2007, which is just below the state average of 79 percent.

The largest increases in TAKS math results came at Vidor High School as tenth-grade results improved 12 points when compared to 2006, and eleventh-grade scores improved by 5 percentage points compared to 2006.

When comparing the same group this year to last, 78 percent of eleventh-grade students met standard in 2007 compared to just 53 percent when this class was in tenth grade in 2006. However, the 78 percent is still below the state average of 80 percent.

Third grade reading scores were well above the state average of 93 percent as 98 percent of VISD third-grade children mastered the TAKS test.

Seventh-grade students at Vidor Junior High improved reading scores by 9 points as 90 percent met standard in 2007.

Eleventh-grade students, who must pass the TAKS test in order to graduate, improved 4 percentage points in 2007 as 91 percent met standard.

Fourth-grade and seventh-grade writing scores both dropped slightly in 2007, as 90 percent and 93 percent met standard, respectively. Fourth-grade scores were only 1 point off the state average.

Social studies results either improved or remained constant for eighth, tenth and eleventh grades this year.

Eleventh-grade results remained at 94 percent for the second consecutive year, but the group’s scores improved by 12 points when compared to the 82 percent of students mastering TAKS in 2006 when in tenth grade.

Fifth-grade TAKS science results improved by 5 percentage points as 80 percent of students mastered the test surpassing the 70 percent state average. However, 68 percent of eighth-grade students met standard in 2007, which is 2 points below the state average of 70 percent and 9 points off last year’s results.

Eleventh-grade students improved by 7 percentage points this year as 79 percent met standard on the science portion compared to 72 percent in 2006.

This same group improved its science scores by 21 percentage points when compared to results as tenth grade students in 2006.

VISD TAKS personnel were attending a conference in Austin and could not be reached for comment Thursday.



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