Bibb students see gains in latest Milestones results

Even though Bibb County’s results on the Georgia Milestones test don’t compare favorably to state averages, the 2016 scores showed improvement overall.

Of the 32 tested areas with results from both 2015 and 2016, Bibb County schools improved on the percentage of students testing “proficient” or above in 19 of them. High school economics saw the biggest jump, as 26 percent of Bibb County’s students tested “proficient” or above this spring, an increase of 7 percentage points from 2015.

Fifth-grade social studies saw a 6 percentage point jump, from 13 to 19, and eighth-grade social studies improved from 18 to 24 percent.

“I’m excited to see the progress taking shape,” Superintendent Curtis Jones said in a statement. “Moving forward this year, I expect our focus on scheduling at the elementary level, as well as our continued focus on reading support programs and professional learning for teachers to impact our students in a positive way.”

Bibb students maintained their proficiency average in seven areas, and the scores in six areas decreased. But one of those was coordinate algebra, with just 83 students taking the test and none testing proficient. That was due to a change in the math curriculum at the state level, said Tony Jones, the district’s research, evaluation, assessment and accountability director.

“Most of them had taken it and failed it and were retaking it,” he said.

Geometry was similar, but the results went in the opposite direction. All 21 students in Bibb County who took that assessment were at the Academy of Classical Education, and all 21 tested proficient or better.

“The whole sequence and tracking in math changes,” Tony Jones said of the shift in which tests will be taken.

Bibb County’s scores remained below the state average in all 34 tested areas, including two that did not have results last year — algebra 1 and geometry.

Houston, Jones and Monroe county schools all tested near or above a majority of the state averages for proficiency. Despite the good results, Houston County Superintendent Mark Scott said the work was just beginning to determine what could be learned from the data.

“Currently the data are being analyzed from the system to student levels to identify both positive and negative trends,” Scott said via email.

Houston County was just below the state proficiency average in a couple middle school areas. For instance, 37.7 percent of the district’s sixth-graders tested as “proficient” compared to a state figure of 39 percent. Scott — like his counterpart in Bibb County — placed faith in the programs and initiatives already in place.

“With our continued focus on literacy, strong standards-based instruction and Response to Intervention strategies, we anticipate continued improvements and better scores,” he said.

The “proficient” level of scores is the third-highest of four levels, above “beginning” and “developing” but below “distinguished.” In future years, any student scoring “developing” and above for third-, fifth- and eighth-grade reading and math will be promoted to the next grade level.

Implemented in 2015, the Georgia Milestones replaced both the Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests and End of Course Tests.

This story was originally published July 26, 2016 at 10:53 AM with the headline "Bibb students see gains in latest Milestones results."