Hamilton County test scores show mixed results

HAMILTON COUNTY, Tenn. (WDEF) – End of the year test results have been revealed for Hamilton County Schools.

Data received from the state of Tennessee by Hamilton County Schools show mixed results across grade levels and subject areas.

One area of focus has been third and fourth grade reading test scores.

Some of the data presented by Hamilton County Schools by subject area. (Courtesy: Hamilton County Schools)

This is as schools just completed their second year of administering tests under the Third Grade Retention Law, which requires third graders to score at a proficient level on their reading test, or else face being held back.

Shannon Moody, chief strategy officer for HCS, said “We saw that our third graders really had a similar score this year to the third graders last year, a little bit lower.”

Even though Hamilton County Schools acknowledge there wasn’t a major improvement in third grade test results for reading, they do point to a major improvement in fourth grade reading test results.

Moody said, “But, we saw those same third graders when they moved into fourth grade increase their proficiency levels. So they moved from 40% proficient in fourth grade to 44% proficient in fourth grade and we’re really proud of the work that they did there.”

Another area HCS is pointing towards as a success is middle school test results.

In all but two subject areas, seventh grade English and Social Studies, there were increases in scores across the board

The most significant jumps were in sixth grade science and eighth grade English.

Additionally, the county outperformed the state average in most middle school categories.

The same could not be said for the majority of the elementary school counterparts.

Moody says that this does not tell the whole story. 

She said, “We’re really interested in seeing that students perform better one year than they did the next, and so some of that is presented through proficiency data. Sometimes that means that a student becomes proficient in a given year. Sometimes that means they moved from the lowest level to the next level, which wouldn’t be represented in this data we’re looking at today. It would be represented in growth data.”

That additional data is expected to be released towards the end of the summer.