CRCT Scores Released for 2008 | Analysis of Fulton County Elementary Schools
categories: Schools
This is the third year that I’ve downloaded and analyzed the CRCT test scores from the Georgia Department of Education. You see, I appreciate the department’s positive spin, but I like to look at the numbers myself and see what patterns and trends I can unearth.
There are a thousand ways to Sunday to slice and dice this data. For the past two years I’ve allowed you to simply select different grades and subjects and sort the data to see the school rankings. That is all fine and fun, but the story isn’t changing much in macro terms.
CLICK HERE to see my traditional analysis of CRCT scores for Fulton County Elementary Schools updated with 2008 data.
There are fifty-five elementary schools in the Fulton County School System. The top half of the schools ranked by average percentage of students not meeting the state standard are all North of the Chattahoochee River. The bottom half is South of the River.
Not much has changed at the top; the top scoring schools are still the same. Four of the top five schools from 2007 are still in the top five in 2008 with Shakerag still number one and Mountain Park still number two.
I’ll hopefully have time to comment more on this year’s CRCT results in a later post, but for now I wanted to try something else. As I was working with this year’s data, it dawned on me that I now had three year’s worth of data and that I could start looking at trends WITHIN a single school. I could see, for instance, if Shakerag was achieving the testing standard better or worse that three years ago.
I realize that this might be splitting hairs for a school - or any school - where already less than 2% of the students are not meeting the standard. I’m not picking on Shakerag here; just using them as an example.
In fact, in 2006 only about 1% of students did not meet the standard at Shakerag. In 2008, 2% did not meet the standard and the rise is mostly attributable to the first, third and fourth grades.
I don’t know if this sort of analysis means didly squat. However, I do find it interesting to play with the numbers and see what sorts of stories they can tell you. I haven’t looked at the graphs for every elementary school, but the ones I did look at were mostly trending in the wrong direction. 
Barnwell Elementary, however, is one that I found which has done better on the test each of the last three consecutive years. I’m sure there are others. Take a look at the data and see what you can find. A trend line down and to the right is good.
Is the CRCT test getting harder? Is the new curriculum affecting the results? Are less kids taking the online practice tests? Who knows, but I’m curious if administrators look at the data this way and find any cause for the trend - or any concern.
Take a look for yourself. Check out your kid’s school and share in the comments here your reactions to the scores, the trends, the test and how it relates to the environment in the school and educational attainment.
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