Troup school system shows overall rise in state CCRPI scores

Published 12:00 am Tuesday, May 17, 2016

By Matthew Strother

mstrother@civitasmedia.com

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LaGRANGE — In recently released CCRPI scores, Troup County schools overall are about on par with state on assessed achievement, but exceeding the state average in progress, noted a school official Monday.

The latest CCRPI — College and Career Ready Performance Index — scores represent the 2014-15 school year and are broken into three categories: achievement for 50 percent, progress for 40 percent and achievement gap for 10 percent.

Totaled, the school system’s averages beat the state:

• Troup elementary schools: 79.8; Georgia: 76.

• Troup middle schools: 75; Georgia: 71.2.

• Troup high schools: 77; Georgia: 75.8.

• Combined Troup scores: 78.3; Georgia: 75.5.

Overall scores for CCRPI for the system increased nearly 10 points compared to last year, which was 69.3. The state average rose from 71.9 last year.

Locally, Mountville Elementary had the highest total average at 87.2. Long Cane Middle School, at 79, scored highest out of middle schools and Troup’s 78.7 was the highest for high schools.

Whitesville Road Elementary was the lowest overall at 55.8.

Here’s a breakdown of the three component parts of the scores:

Achievement: Schools hover around state

Achievement scores mostly are an assessment of students’ performance on state tests, said Melanie Traylor, school improvement and assessment director, who presented the information to the Board of Education during Monday’s caucus meeting. The scores are used to help the school system assess how prepared students are for graduation, and for college or a career.

Out of the possible 50 points for all schools, the lowest-scoring school, Whitesville Road Elementary, had 20.9 and the highest-scoring, Hollis Hand Elementary, had 37 points. The state average for elementary schools is 29.7 with the average for Troup’s elementary schools edging it out at 30.1.

The Troup County middle schools’ average was 0.7 points over the state average of 29.3. Long Cane Middle School was the highest with 31.5, Gardner Newman second at 29.9 and Callaway Middle fell below at 26.4.

High schools didn’t fare as well with the local average falling 1.3 points below the state’s 32.8. LaGrange and Troup high schools’ scores were neck-in-neck with 32.4 and 32.3 respectively, while Callaway High averaged 28.7.

Progress: Schools beat the state

Progress scores are aimed at measuring whether students are growing at the same rate as their peers statewide, Traylor said. It measures the change by comparing two consecutive years of test scores and comparing those to students across the state.

The category had been long requested from the state by school systems “because not all students can achieve at high levels, but all students can make progress,” Traylor said.

Out of 40 possible points, three elementary schools — Berta Weathersbee, Callaway and Mountville — scored the maximum. Whitesville Road Elementary at 31.6 and Ethel Kight at 33.4 were the only two elementary schools below the state. The overall average for local elementary schools was 36.8 compared to the state average of 33.8.

Troup middle schools overall eked out the state average at 34.8 to the state’s 34.6. Long Cane Middle School scored 36.1, Gardner Newman 34.7 and Callaway Middle 32.7.

All High schools exceeded the state average and had an overall average of 37.4 to the state’s 34.3. Troup topped the high schools at 37.9 and LaGrange and Callaway tied at 37.2.

“That means that while we may not be achieving at the state level, we are making more progress than the rest of the state in a comparison year,” Traylor said. “That’s a good thing.”

Achievement gap: Schools match the state

The last category, achievement gap, takes the lowest-achieving 25 percent of students in the school and compares their change in scores between two years and their performance to peers statewide.

Out of a possible 10 points, elementary, middle and high schools each averaged 6.7, the exact same as the state. Individually, Berta Weathersbee, Callaway and Rosemont elementary schools topped the list at 8.3 each and Whitesville Road Elementary was the lowest at 3.3.

Long Cane Middle School was on par with the state and system average of 6.7, while Callaway and Gardner Newman middle schools fell below at 5.8 each.

Callaway and Troup high schools both scored 6.7, and LaGrange High fell below the state with 5.8.

“We can continue to improve our CCRPI scores by continuing to focus on our instructional program,” Traylor told the Board of Education on Monday. “That’s the best thing we can do, the best thing we can do for all students is to provide instruction to all students. So that increases us in content mastery, achievement — all those things and we also need to continue to provide to provide opportunities for students for Move on When Ready (college credit dual enrollment program), pathway to completion — all of the things you (the Board of Education) can help us work for as we move throughout the year.”

RESOURCES

To read a summary presentation prepared by the school system, click here. To access the Georgia Department of Education’s database of scores and search by school, click here.

Matthew Strother is the editor of LaGrange Daily News. He may be reached at 706-884-7311, ext. 2153.