Nelson County Schools’ latest ratings show overall improvement
STAFF REPORT
Friday, Sept. 27, 2013, 12:01 a.m. — According to a Nelson County Schools press release, Boston School scored a home run and earned a place among the top schools in Kentucky in annual statewide test results released Friday by the Kentucky Department of Education.
On the whole, Nelson County Schools fared well in Kentucky’s still evolving Unbridled Learning assessment and accountability system that was rolled out for the first time last year, the release stated. The tests measure educational progress in five content areas: reading, mathematics, science, social studies and writing.
“We’ve got some great news, and all the news helps us move forward,” Superintendent Anthony Orr said. “The new testing system provides so much more information than the former system. In every school, we see data that supports the work we are doing.”
BOSTON EARNS ‘DISTINGUISHED’ RATING. This year, Boston’s middle grades leaped to the front of the pack with scores that placed them ahead of 94% of their peers, statewide and designation as a High Performing and High Progress school to go along with a Distinguished rating, the highest classification possible.
IMPROVEMENT TRENDS. Nelson County Schools showed steady improvement by adding two Proficient ratings and five “Progressing” ratings to the 10 “Needs Improvement” scores earned last year and earning the district local bragging rights to the three top performing schools in elementary, middle and high school rankings for this county.
Top performers included Boston School’s elementary grades and Thomas Nelson High School, both of which earned Proficient ratings.
“Those labels place us well above the state average for those schools,” Orr said. “We’re proud of what we’ve done to keep a focus on providing quality instruction.”
“A majority of our middle schools increased their overall score and percentile rank and that’s reason to celebrate,” Stephanie Dietrich, the director of secondary schools said. “I am pleased by Thomas Nelson High School’s performance in its first showing on the state assessment and have no doubt that all schools in our district will follow suit as we continue to use assessment to drive instruction.”
Nelson County High School, Bloomfield Middle School and New Haven’s middle grades improved their scores over last year to earn designation as “Progressing” schools.
Boston’s elementary students posted scores that placed them in the 86 percentile of elementary schools statewide, while Thomas Nelson posted scores that placed the school in the 71st percentile among high schools.
The system measures progress in three areas – GAP, Growth and Achievement – for elementary grades. Those areas plus College and Career Readiness are added for middle grades, while graduation rate is also factored in at the high school level.
“This is the first year we’ve had apples to apples growth comparisons,” said Tim Beck, Nelson County School’s Director of Elementary Schools. “Our schools continue to focus on growth and are moving students forward.”
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