Roswell Schools Have 'Write' Stuff

Several Roswell area elementary schools are able to pat themselves on the back for having the "write" stuff. 

According to recently released results, Roswell North and Hillside elementary schools saw increases of more than 10 percentage points of students exceeding standards on the Grade 5 Writing Assessment.

"We are just thrilled at the student’s performance," said Roswell North Elementary School Principal Kindra Smith. "This was a team effort and I am happy for our entire school community."

Overall, 87 percent of fifth-graders in Fulton County Schools met or exceeded state standards. That's an increase of four percentage points over the previous year and eight percentage points higher than the state average.

“I’m pleased to see our students continuing to score so highly on the state writing assessments,” said Superintendent Cindy Loe. “Our focus on writing at the elementary level has paid off and I believe this will translate to equally high performance for the similar writing exams that occur in middle and high school.”

The Grade 5 Writing Assessment was administered to Fulton students in early March. As part of a statewide annual testing, the assessment provides fifth graders with a measurement of their writing performance. Students are assigned a topic in one of three genres – narrative, informational and persuasive. They are allowed two hours to write an essay. The final papers are scored using a standardized system and rated as “Does Not Meet Standards,” “Meets Standards” and “Exceeds Standards.”

“We focused on using data to pinpoint the exact areas of need. Teachers received extensive training on writers workshops that focused on helping students write more authentically," Smith said of how the school increased its percentages. "Most importantly, we kept our school improvement plan goal of writing in the forefront throughout the year for teachers, parents and students and stayed laser focused on producing positive outcomes."

Smith points to the school's achievement of its motto, which is “Climbing to Greater Heights.”  

"We plan to continue to raise the level of expectations with hopes that we will see even more successes in the areas of writing and math, which are both school improvement goals for our school," she said.

Countywide, 70 percent of Fulton’s elementary schools showed increases in the percent of students meeting or exceeding state standards. Three-fourths of the schools have at least 80 percent of their students meeting or exceeding standards, while last year only 60 percent of the schools were in this category. Almost 50 percent of the schools have at least 90 percent of their students meeting the standard, which is 15 percentage points more than last year.

Results from the test help students, parents and teachers identify writing strengths as well as areas where additional focus is needed. A similar writing assessment is administered in eighth grade as well as during high school, when students take the writing section of the Georgia High School Graduation Test in their junior year.

FULTON COUNTY ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS GRADE 5 -- GEORGIA WRITING ASSESSMENT 2011

Hillside

Esther Jackson

229

211

213

215

16

-4

92

80

Mountain Park

Northwood

246

231

229

237

17

-6

98

98

Roswell North