APS eighth-graders advance in state writing test

APS students improved their performance by five percentage points and closed the achievement gap between the district and students around the state on the 2010 Georgia Grade 8 Writing Assessment. Seventy-nine percent of APS students scored at “meets” or “exceeds” standards levels.

The results indicate that the previous performance gap on the state writing assessment between APS and state averages has been eliminated. The new Georgia Grade 8 Writing Assessment was administered for the first time in 2007.

A total of 3,173 APS students took the state writing test. The results indicated that APS students improved their performance from 74 percent meeting or exceeding standards last year to 79 percent scoring in those categories on the 2010 results.

“These results clearly show that our teachers and school-based staff and administrators are making a difference where it counts in terms of our student performance,” said Superintendent Dr. Beverly L. Hall. “This type of improvement over time clearly demonstrates that our reform programs implemented over the past decade are effective in escalating student academic performance.”