Sterling test scores indicative of great effort by students, teachers

(Published Sunday, Aug. 26, 2007 in Examiner-Enterprise)

With the recent release of state test scores, the Bartlesville Public School District 's theme for the 2007-08 academic year seems quite appropriate:

“Excellence in Education.”

The district excelled on all three tests – Criterion Reference Testing, the End of Instruction and the ACT. The CRT – also known as Oklahoma Core Curriculum Testing – tests students, from third through eighth grade, in their proficiency in particular subject areas.

The EOI tests focus on secondary education students while the ACT is a college entrance exam.

Bartlesville High School students turned in their best cumulative ACT score since 2003, a 22.5 – an increase from the previous year's 22.1, which is statistically significant. When ranked against its Oklahoma peers, BHS fared very well. The Sooner State average was 20.7.

When ranked against some of its peer states, Oklahoma performs quite well in the ACT. When matched up against 13 states in the south – Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Kentucky, West Virginia, Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama and Florida – as well as the District of Columbia, Oklahoma was tied for third in cumulative scoring.

In other words, in a state which stands out in cumulative ACT scoring, Bartlesville turned in one of the best tallies. Our district boasted one of the best participation rates in Oklahoma as well – 77 percent.

We take great pride in knowing Bartlesville High School graduates students with a solid foundation of knowledge who not only go on to college, but have the tools to excel.

The Bartlesville Public School District certainly excelled in the CRT testing. Our students set the bar high with their fine 2006 test scores and then proceeded to surpass those marks with their '07 tallies. District-wide, our third-graders increased their reading score from a cumulative 92 in 2006 to a 93 this year. Their math score was improved from an 88 to an 89.

At the fourth-grade level, while it would seem quite difficult to improve upon a 96 in reading and a 94 in math from 2006, our students did just that. Their 98 in reading and 96 in math is a tremendous achievement. In fact, Jane Phillips Elementary School scored 100 percent proficient in both math and reading while Hoover , Ranch Heights , Richard Kane and Woodrow Wilson were 100 percent proficient in reading. Wayside fourth-graders scored a 100 proficiency rate in math while 58 percent of that class was deemed advanced.

Our fifth-graders (94 in reading, 95 in math, 95 in writing, 85 in social studies and 96 in science), sixth-graders (88 in reading and 91 in math), seventh-graders (86 in reading, 87 in math and 90 in geography) and eighth-graders (90 in reading, 89 in math, 94 in writing, 93 in science and 89 in history) have plenty of reason to celebrate as well.

It's a good time to be a Bruin. The hard work, dedication and focus of our students, teachers and other staff members are certainly paying off.

Hard work certainly paid big dividends when it comes to the district's End of Instruction test results. As the name of the test would indicate, EOI's gauge students' proficiency levels in particular subject areas toward the end of a given academic year. Specifically, ninth, 10 th and 11 th graders are tested in English II, U.S. History, Biology I and Algebra I. The district's final scores in each subject area are made up of students' tallies from all grade levels.

Thus, the students in the district combined for a solid 82 in English II and a fine 85 in U.S. History. But when one focuses on the district's Biology I and Algebra I results, that's where real progress is seen. After turning in a 68 in Biology I in 2006, our students improved dramatically to an 89 this year. As outstanding as that improvement was, it was surpassed in Algebra I, where we leaped from a 50 to an 87.

“I think the EOI scores are indicative of some extremely hard work by our teachers and students,” says Janet Vernon, the district's executive director of secondary instruction. “The focus has been on individual student mastery. A lot of extra time has been spent working with the students to help them understand and grasp some of the material that they will see on those EOI tests.”

The EOI's are certainly important to our secondary students as in four years, they will have to prove themselves proficient on each of them in order to graduate.