District outscores state TAKS averages

By Philip Navarrette/Staff Writer

June 04, 2007 07:33 pm

— Cleburne ISD’s preliminary results from the latest round of Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills testing, taken this spring, are in, bringing with them favorable assessments from district administrators.
Results are published in the sidebar accompanying this story on Page 5.
“We’re pleased with results,” Superintendent Robert Damron said. “We feel we’ve done a good job. But we’re going to continue to work hard and we’re always looking to improve.”
Damron said the results show improvements on many levels, something he’s particularly proud of with personnel shake-ups around the district and students moving into new schools next year.
The district was ahead of the state’s average passing percentages in 22 of 26 subjects.
The highest passing percentage came from the exit-level social studies scores, which had a 98 percent of students passing.
Damron said the district is extremely happy with that result.
“Anytime you’re above 90, and especially 95 percent, you’re right where you want to be,” Damron said, “so we’re very pleased with that.”
The lowest score came in 10th-grade science, where 60 percent of students passed the test.
Though the result is not exactly what the district is looking for, its being above the state average says something about the students and about the difficulty of the science test, Damron said.
The district is not content with the score, but teachers are working hard to address the problem, and Damron is confident improvements will come in the future, he said.
The final TAKS report is expected to be released later this summer.

Philip Navarrette can be reached at 817-645-2441,
ext. 2337, or reporter@trcle.com.