3 campuses gain coveted 'exemplary' score
7 other campuses get 'recognized' status by Texas Education Agency
BY GLORIA JENNINGS

Three Cherokee County schools, Rusk Primary and Elementary and Jacksonville West Side, were among the 996 campuses receiving an exemplary rating in the recent Texas Education Agency's Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) accountability rating. Rusk Primary and Elementary schools were combined as one campus in the rating. All three campuses received recognized rating last year.

An exemplary rating means all student groups on the campus had a 90 percent or higher passing rate on all subject areas of TAKS tests. The TAKS is given to students in grades 3-11 and covers English, language arts/reading, writing, mathematics, science and social studies.

County schools receiving recognized status were Rusk Intermediate and Rusk Junior High; Alto Elementary; and Jacksonville Nichols, East Side Joe Wright and Fred Douglass. These campuses were among the 2,815 schools receiving recognized ratings.

Rusk Intermediate School received a recognized rating last year and the other three campuses were acceptable in the 2007 ratings.

To receive a recognized rating a campus must have a passing rate of 75 percent for all student groups evaluated on all TAKS exams. A campus can also meet the recognized level by achieving passing rates on the TAKS of 70-74 percent and by showing enough improvement on the test since 2007 to reach a 75 percent passing rate in two years.

All other campuses in the county received academically acceptable ratings. They are Rusk High School; Jacksonville High School, Middle School and Compass Center; Alto High School and Middle School; Wells Elementary and High School; New Summerfield ISD. There were 3,509 campuses receiving this rating.

There were no unacceptable ratings given to Cherokee County campuses. All county school districts were given acceptable ratings.

Rusk ISD Superintendent Dr. Jim Largent said, "I am extremely pleased with our final TAKS results and accountability status for each campus and for the district. Everyone worked very hard as reflected in the scores. We missed being a recognized district in our science rating and have procedures in place for improvement in 2008-09. We will continue to strive toward our goals and look forward to the challenges in the coming school year."

Minimum performance floor must be 70-74 to be a recognized district. Rusk scored 61 for African American students and 69 for Hispanic students, both in science.

Dr. Ray DeSpain, superintendent at Alto ISD said, "We're elated to have our elementary campus achieve recognized status. I am very pleased with the fact that we improved in 12 of the 17 areas of accountability over last year.

" I am even prouder of the fact that we have improved in 16 out of the 17 areas over the past two years. Like every other school district in the state, we work very hard to prepare our students to perform well on the TAKS tests and we try to provide everything we can for our students to be successful academically.

"With every passing year, the tests become more difficult and the passing standards also increase. Scores are typically lower across the state in math and science, so we focus on those areas a great deal. The state rating also takes into consideration what the TEA terms as sub-groups or sub-populations (white, African American, Hispanic, and economically disadvantaged) and we must meet accountability standards for each of those also.

"Our teachers, staff and students have worked extremely hard to improve and I have every confidence that they will continue to do so."

Judy Terry, assistant superintendent of instruction and curriculum for Jacksonville ISD said, "We are excited to have an exemplary campus and four recognized campuses. Our students, teachers and community are to be congratulated on a year well done. There are always areas to work on and our math and science scores are the scores that kept us from being a recognized district. Science and math instruction will be our focus for 2008-09."

Wells ISD Superintendent Dale Morton said the district almost made the recognized status. This is a big jump in the district's scores as the Wells Elementary School received an unacceptable rating last year.

"The subpopulation economically disadvantaged for science and math and the subpopulation African American for math scores were in the acceptable range, causing the district to fall back into the acceptable range," Mr. Morton said.

Overall the district performance improved. "We will implement a TAKS aligned and academically rigorous curriculum which has improved academic performance in schools across the state during the 2008-09 year.

This comprehensive curriculum project will affect both content and teaching methods in the core academic areas. The staff will be trained prior to the start of the school and throughout the school year. Campus capacity building teams will coordinate instruction, testing and monitoring as the curriculum is implemented. We will reach the exemplary schools status in 2009," Mr. Morton said.