High school juniors across Bryan County displayed the “write” stuff after placing in the top 10 school districts in the state on the Georgia High School writing test.
According to Superintendent Dr. Paul Brooksher, results indicate juniors at Richmond Hill High School and Bryan County High School had the ninth-highest median score of 234.78 out of a possible 300.
“We are proud to see that our district-wide efforts to incorporate writing in all academic areas, including math and science, are resulting in improved performance and a higher passing rate on the GHSWT for Bryan County,” Assistant Superintendent Dr. Brad Anderson said.
Of the students who took the test in Bryan County, 97.3 percent passed. Additionally, students at both schools ranked 10th in percentage of students who exceeded the pass rate, with 18.4 percent of students exceeding the test’s standards.
At BCHS, of the 115 students who took the test, 77.4 percent of students passed the test and 18.3 percent of test takers exceeded the pass rate. At RHHS, of the 358 students who took the test, 79.3 percent of students passed the test, and 18.4 percent of test takers exceeded the pass rate.
The two-hour test was administered in late September to 473 juniors in the county and required students to write a persuasive paper on an assigned topic, Anderson said.
The essay is assessed based on the Georgia Performance Standards domains of ideas, organization, style and convention. Students must pass the test to receive a high-school diploma and can take it multiple times in their junior and senior years. Students can score up to 350 points, with 200 points required to pass the test.
The results can, in part, be credited to new writing standards the school has implemented in recent years, Anderson said.
“We actually put into place, two years ago, a comprehensive writing plan for the district, and then have provided lots of professional development with outside consultants, Department of Education staff, our program managers and presentations,” he said Wednesday, noting “good instruction” by school staff also can be attributed to the success.

Read more in the Dec. 15 edition of the News.