The Georgia Department of Education released recently the 2012 results of the Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests for districts and schools throughout the state, and students in Bryan County did “very well,” according to school officials.
 “Bryan County’s nearly 3,500 students in grades 3-8 who took the CRCT performed very well,” Bryan County Schools’ Assistant Superintendent Brad Anderson said in an email. “The district made modest gains in reading and English language arts in almost every grade (3-8).”
The most significant improvement in those subjects came from fifth-graders at George Washington Carver Elementary School and sixth-graders at Bryan County Middle School.
This year, Carver fifth-graders scored near perfect with a 99 percent pass rate in the area of English/language arts compared to a 97 percent in 2011. Carver fifth-graders also scored high in reading, with a 98 percent pass rate this year versus 95 percent passing in 2011.
Bryan County Middle School sixth-graders scored near perfect in reading with a 99 percent pass rate compared to a 94 percent in 2011. BCMS sixth-graders also improved in English/language arts, bumping this year’s pass rate to 93 percent from 92 percent in 2011.
“(Bryan County Public Schools) implemented a district-wide writing plan at the beginning of the 2011-2012 school year, and we saw significant gains in student performance in the area of English language arts,” Anderson said. “In fourth grade, the district went from 92 percent of the students meeting and/or exceeding proficiency to 97 percent.”
Anderson said the schools’ performances in these subjects and more continue to compete with state averages.
“Our examination of the results on reading performance demonstrates that our students exceeded the state in all grades tested,” he said. “Additionally, in English language arts, the district exceeded state. In mathematics, BCPS continues to outperform the state average in every grade but we are always focused on continuous improvement.”
Students across Bryan County saw some trouble in the areas of science and social studies. Eighty-two percent of sixth-graders passed in science, while 78 percent passed in social studies.
Richmond Hill Middle School sixth-graders scored an 82 percent pass rate in social studies this year, down from 2011 when 88 percent of RHMS sixth-graders passed in the same subject.
BCES pass rates in math, science and social studies decreased in 2012 in students in grades 3 and 4. The lowest pass rate by was in math by BCES third-graders, who scored an 80 percent pass in that subject.
The lowest pass rate of all students in grades 3-8 was by Bryan County Middle School sixth-graders, who had a 63 percent pass rate in social studies.
Read more in the July 25 Back to School edition of the News.