Writing scores go up for eighth-graders
By Anne Marie Kyzer annemariek@thetruecitizen.com

Eighth graders at Burke County Middle School showed modest gains on the state writing test, but school officials say it's just not enough.

Nearly 61 percent of the students who took the test either met or exceeded standards. Some 59 percent did so last year.

BCMS principal Daphney Ivery said she was looking for more.

"They did not go up as much as I would have liked," she said. "I was disappointed to a certain extent, but a little gain is better than none."

Ivery had hoped that mock writing tests given during the year would better prepare the students for the state assessment.

She added that a new writing program, called Writing to Win, was introduced this year to help the students become more comfortable writing on a variety of subjects.

"The more you write the better writer you become. We are going to try to incorporate writing into every class," she said. "You really have to write across all disciplines to see results."

She hopes the benefits of those efforts will become evident in the results of next year's eighth graders and those that follow.

Testing director Dr. Allen Kicklighter was also looking for more from this year's findings.

Statewide about 77 percent of eighth graders passed the test, a 10-point jump from last year. The average score among them was 212. The average score in Burke County was about 201.

But Kicklighter noted this particular group of students has made strides on standardized tests.

"If you look at the trend lines for the group that was tested this year, they have made a bigger gain than two percent. You have to look at where they were," he said.

State writing tests are administered to third-, fifth-, eighthand 11th-graders each year.

While 11th-graders are required to pass the test to graduate the following year, Kicklighter explained that results in the other grades are simply used as an indicator of where students need help.

"It's as important to figure out what they don't know as what they know because then you can find out what you need to work on instructionally," he said, adding that testing in the younger grades helps prepare students for the Georgia High School Graduation test in the 11th grade. "With everything, we tend to look at the results in high school. But that's not where we need to make all the changes. That's just where we see the result of all that has happened since pre-K."

WRITER'S BLOCK

Educators across the country say that a new hurdle has developed in their attempt to teach students better writing skills. The more children rely on cell phones and texting for communication, the less practice they get writing formally. Administrators say that while some students are taking their standardized tests, they subconsciously revert to texting language, the shorthand that makes typing on a mobile phone more convenient.

Email and Internet chat room slang has long been blamed for weakening writing skills. Television is commonly cited as well, because the more students rely on it for information, the less they read.

Even more far reaching, Burke County boasts a high illiteracy rate, which presents a major challenge in the development of writing skills at home.

8TH GRADE WRITING TEST SCORES FOR AREA SCHOOLS

Source: Georgia Department of Education