Overton County Schools shifting its academic focus toward middle school math performance following results from the most recent TCAP testing cycle.
Secondary Curriculum Supervisor Cristy Miller said the district experienced a six percent increase in third-grade English Language Arts proficiency compared to the previous year. Miller said the school system also saw district-wide improvements in language arts across grades three through five.
“The overall math is is a little bit of a concern for us, especially in our middle school grades,” Miller said. “We want to see a greater growth there, but those areas will remain a focus for us throughout the year, and we do plan on focusing on those areas as well with some of the other same approaches that I just talked about with ELA, we’ll implement with math as well.”
Overton’s overall math proficiency dropped from 35.7 percent from 38.2 percent the year before. Miller said the district identified fourth-grade reading and math as specific bright spots alongside strong student performance in Algebra I at Livingston Academy. Miller said social studies scores have also demonstrated continued year-to-year improvement across the district.
“We feel that’s a good improvement, the 6 percent for our ELA third grade,” Miller said. “We feel like that that is a big increase for us and we’re proud of that. Of course, we would like to see it increase some more, so we’ll continue to work on those things. But we’re pleased with seeing that increase in those grades, especially third grade.”
Miller said the district plans to utilize a tutoring grant to expand interventions for students who were retained in kindergarten through third grade. Miller said officials are also analyzing student data to identify specific learning gaps that require targeted instructional strategies.
“We want to continue to build on the effective practices that we already have in place in our classrooms,” Miller said. “Our teachers are already doing some wonderful things and doing some wonderful practices. And we want to continue to build upon those, share those ideas, those other things that are working for teachers in classrooms.”
Miller said the district is still waiting for science test results, which are expected to be released in mid-August. Miller said while TCAP metrics are important for analyzing teaching methods, the district recognizes the scores do not represent the entire picture of a child’s development.
“I think there’s always room to grow, no matter how how poor or how good your scores are, there’s always room to grow,” Miller said. “We we definitely have room for growth, as all districts do. So we are hoping to see some growth in the coming months and then next year as well. So we’re definitely capable of it, and we look forward that.”
Miller said the district has also seen positive trends in high school ACT scores in addition to the TCAP results.
“We do place emphasis, we look at it, we take it into consideration, but we also know that it’s not the whole picture of our district, and it’s not the whole picture of the child,” Miller said.