Editor’s Note: This is the third of a four part series of articles about the Benchmark exams at area school districts.
White Hall third graders scored mostly advanced in literacy and math on the Benchmark exams.
Test results for April 2012 Arkansas Augmented Benchmark Examinations for students in grades three through eight were released earlier this month. The four Jefferson County school districts had varying degrees of success, with points of pride and areas in need of improvement for each of them.
Below are the results from the White Hall School District for 2012 with the 2011 scores included for comparative purposes.
The scaled scoring system used for the tests includes a range of possible scores in categories of below basic, basic, proficient and advanced. Each test for each grade has a different scale range.
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White Hall
White Hall schools that include grades three, four, five and six include Taylor Elementary, Hardin Elementary, Moody Elementary, and Gandy Elementary.
Schools that include grades seven and eight include White Hall Junior High School and Redfield Junior High School.
White Hall superintendent Larry Smith is proud of the accomplishments of the students in his district and of the teachers who prepared them.
“We’ve had a very good year testing wise,” Smith said. “We have achieved some of the highest scores we’ve ever had. There have been tremendous gains. The only areas where we had any issues were in the fifth and sixth grades where we saw a slight decline. Overall we are very pleased with the results that we had.”
Third grade literacy
Scale ranges: below basic, 0-329; basic, 330-499; proficient, 500-653; advanced, 654 and above.
The scaled scores for third grade literacy include Taylor, 708 for 2012 and 623 for 2011; Hardin, 821 for 2012 and 686 for 2011; Moody, 779 for 2012 and 628 for 2011; and Gandy, 642 for 2012 and 605 for 2011.
Third grade math
Scale ranges: below basic, 0-408; basic, 409-499; proficient, 500-585; advanced, 586 and above.
The scaled scores for third grade math include Taylor, 637 for 2012 and 578 for 2011; Hardin, 643.5 for 2012 and 615.5 for 2011; Moody, 646 for 2012 and 602 for 2011; and Gandy, 637 for 2012 and 630 for 2011.
Fourth grade literacy
Scale ranges: below basic, 0-353; basic, 354-558; proficient, 559-747; advanced, 748 and above.
The scaled scores for fourth grade literacy include Taylor, 724 for 2012 and 674 for 2011; Hardin, 826.3 for 2012 and 717.5 for 2011; Moody, 790 for 2012 and 740 for 2011; and Gandy, 781 for 2012 and 790 for 2011.
Fourth grade math
Scale ranges: below basic, 0-494; basic, 495-558; proficient, 559-639; advanced, 640 and above.
The scaled scores for fourth grade math include Taylor, 625.3 for 2012 and 624 for 2011; Hardin, 696.7 for 2012 and 637.5 for 2011; Moody, 657 for 2012 and 624 for 2011; and Gandy, 642 for 2012 and 669 for 2011.
Fifth grade literacy
Scale ranges: below basic, 0-381; basic, 382-603; proficient, 604-798; advanced, 799 and above.
The scaled scores for fifth grade literacy include Taylor, 748.3 for 2012 and 718 for 2011; Hardin, 822 for 2012 and 721 for 2011; Moody, 850 for 2012 and 794 for 2011; and Gandy, 816 for 2012 and 740 for 2011.
Fifth grade math
Scale ranges: below basic, 0-543; basic, 544-603; proficient, 604-696; advanced, 697 and above.
The scaled scores for fifth grade math include Taylor, 656 for 2012 and 669 for 2011; Hardin, 678.3 for 2012 and 665 for 2011; Moody, 685.5 for 2012 and 711 for 2011, and Gandy, 673 for 2012 and 669 for 2011.
Sixth grade literacy
Scale ranges: below basic, 0-416; basic 417-640; proficient, 641-822; advanced, 823 and above.
The scaled scores for sixth grade literacy include Taylor, 808.3 for 2012 and 793 for 2011; Hardin, 809 for 2012 and 797 for 2011; Moody, 811 for 2012 and 828 for 2011; and Gandy, 748 for 2012 and 797 for 2011.
Sixth grade math
Scale ranges: below basic, 0-568; basic, 569-640; proficient, 641-721; advanced, 722 and above.
The scaled scores for sixth grade math include Taylor, 719.3 for 2012 and 714 for 2011; Hardin, 745 for 2012 and 753 for 2011; Moody, 758.3 for 2012 and 747.5 for 2011; and Gandy, 691 for 2012 and 732 for 2011.
Seventh grade literacy
Scale ranges: below basic, 0-425; basic, 426-672; proficient, 673-866; advanced, 867 and above.
The scaled scores for seventh grade literacy include White Hall Junior High, 855 for 2012 and 792 for 2011; and Redfield Junior High, 819.3 for 2012 and 680 for 2011.
Seventh grade math
Scale ranges: below basic, 0-621; basic, 622-672; proficient, 673-763; advanced, 764 and above.
The scaled scores for seventh grade math include White Hall Junior High, 764 for 2012 and 764 for 2011; Redfield Junior High, 747.7 for 2012 and 722 for 2011.
Eighth grade literacy
Scale ranges: below basic, 0-506; basic, 507-699; proficient, 700-913; advanced, 914 and above.
The scaled scores for eighth grade literacy include White Hall Junior High, 856 for 2012 and 827 for 2011; Redfield Junior High, 847.3 for 2012 and 815 for 2011.
Eighth grade math
Scale ranges: below basic, 0-654; basic, 655-699; proficient, 700-801; advanced, 802 and above.
The scaled scores for eighth grade math include White Hall Junior High School, 754 for 2012 and 746 for 2011; Redfield Junior High, 750 for 2012 and 700 for 2011.