Rockdale Citizen

CONYERS -- Students in Rockdale County Public Schools outperformed the state at each level on critical sections of state tests.

Pass averages for this year's Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests, or CRCT, show that Rockdale County students in five critical areas of testing had higher pass averages, compared to overall averages from across the state in the same areas.

Although students in grades three through eight may be tested in reading, math, science, social studies and English/language arts, state law requires that students in third, fifth and eighth grades meet or exceed expectations on, or pass, the CRCT in reading in order to be promoted to the next grade level. Fifth- and eighth-grade students also must pass the math section of the CRCT.

In Rockdale County, 93.3 percent of third-graders passed the reading portion of the test, compared to 90.60 percent of students statewide.

In fifth grade, 95 percent of Rockdale County students passed reading and 88.1 percent passed math, compared to 91.49 percent of fifth-graders statewide in reading and 83.68 percent in math.

In eighth-grade, 98.2 percent of Rockdale County students passed reading and 80.1 percent passed math, compared to 95.91 percent of fifth-graders statewide in reading and 76.65 percent in math.

The results are preliminary until final results are released later this year, when summer retest results will be included. Students had the opportunity to retest over the summer and may be promoted to the next grade level after not passing required portions of the CRCT if school-level administration and teachers agree to it in some instances.

“Overall, we are pleased with the initial results of the 2011-12 CRCT administration. The percentage of RCPS students meeting and/or exceeding standards was above the state average in all grades and all subject areas," said Richard Autry, Chief Academic Officer in the office of Teaching & Learning at RCPS. "We were particularly excited that all grade levels (3-8) exceeded the 90% goal in both reading and language arts. This strong performance is a testament to the quality teachers we have in our classrooms and the hard work and effort put forth by our students. This data does not include retest results. We expect the figures to increase with those results and look forward to their release.”

More students across the state are exceeding standards on the 2012 CRCTs than last year, according to state-level results released earlier this month. Scores show that there has been improvement in the percentage of students meeting and exceeding standards on 20 of the 30 content-area tests overall in Georgia.

School-level results should be available no later than July 12, according to the GaDOE.

More information about the CRCT is available on the GaDOE Web site, www.gadoe.org.