Editor’s note: This is the first of a two-part series about results of the Kentucky Core Content Tests (KCCT) released this morning. Part two, which will include Berea Community and Model Laboratory schools, will be published Wednesday.



Three Madison County elementary schools already have exceeded the state’s goal for 2014 in results from the 2007 administration of the Kentucky Core Content Tests (KCCT) released this morning by the Kentucky Department of Education.

KCCT is the primary component of Commonwealth Accountability Testing System (CATS). Nonacademic data, which also is a component of school and district accountability indices, was released in May.

More than 400,000 students in grades 3-12 participate in the annual assessments, which cover seven subject areas: reading, mathematics, science, social studies, arts and humanities, practical living/vocational studies and writing.

Schools are expected to meet unique, overall goals every two years, with the ultimate goal of 100 — proficiency — on a 140-point scale by 2014.

“Some of our elementaries are the highest in the state,” said Tommy Floyd, chief academic officer for the Madison County School District. “White Hall, Kit Carson and Shannon Johnson elementaries exceeded 100 as their (accountability) index.”

“I believe truly that this district has a vision of where it wants to go,” he said. “It begins with each child. It’s how good of a job we do at taking care of each person’s son or daughter that we have in school.”

White Hall had an overall accountability index growth of 14.8, reaching 115.8 in 2007. The school also exceeded 100 in every category and reached 115.5 in total academic index.

The practical living/vocation studies score for White Hall was 131.88 and the science score was 129.27, only 8.12 and 10.73 points away from the 140 maximum score.

Kit Carson Elementary had an overall accountability index growth of 3.4, reaching 100.2 in 2007. The school also exceeded 100 in every category and reached a total academic index of 104.5. The arts and humanities score for Kit Carson was 111.66 and the social studies score was 108.11.

Shannon Johnson Elementary had an overall accountability index growth of 4.4, reaching 100.8 in 2007. Five out of seven content areas had scores of 100 or more and the total academic index for the school is 105.2. Shannon Johnson scored 117.86 in science, 106.91 in reading and 106.35 in math.

The district had an elementary academic index of 97.5, including the following “pockets of success” at other elementary schools.

• Daniel Boone Elementary boasted a science score of 103.19 and a reading score of 97.9. The total academic index for Daniel Boone is 93.8. Among fourth-graders, Daniel Boone scored 101.5 in math.

• Glenn Marshall Elementary had an overall academic index of 95.0. Five out of seven content areas had scores of 90 or better with a score of 100.76 in math.

• Kingston Elementary had an overall academic index of 87.3 with a score of 90.67 in reading. Among third-graders, Kingston had a score of 101.08 in math.

• Kirksville Elementary had an accountability index growth of 6.14 to 92.4 in 2007. Five of seven content areas had score of 90 or more.

• Mayfield Elementary had an overall academic index of 79.10 and scores above 80.0 in five of seven content areas, including 83.98 in science and 82.61 in reading.

• Silver Creek Elementary had an overall academic index of 90.70, with scores of 99.61 in science and 93.48 in reading. Fourth-grade females scored 103.54 in reading and 102.98 in science while third-grade males had a math score of 100.73.

• Waco Elementary had an overall academic index of 96.4. Six out of seven content areas had scores of 90 or more, including a social studies score of 100.18 and reading and math scores of 98.70 and 98.13, respectively.

At the elementary level, Floyd said the district has received multiple intervention grants for providing services to students in the areas of math and reading, such as Math Interventionists, Fast Math, Math Recovery, Read About Software, Reading Recovery and Interactive Classroom activities.

The middle school academic index for the district was 87.2, including the following highlights.

• Clark-Moores Middle School had an overall academic index of 90.9 in 2007 and an accountability index growth of 4.1. Three out of seven content areas, including science, reading and arts and humanities, had scores of 90 or better. Sixth-grade students had an overall score of 108.88 in reading.

• Foley Middle School had an overall academic index of 86.9 and an accountability index growth of 1.2. Three out of seven content areas had scores of 90 or better, including a score of 93.91 in reading, 91.35 in arts and humanities and 90.27 in practical living/vocational studies.

• Madison Middle School had an overall academic index of 83.4 with scores of 87.94 in reading and 90.88 in arts and humanities.

At the middle school level, the district was funded for a large state grant to provide computerized mathematics instruction with Carnegie Math software to partner with Connected Math strategies.

“There’s a direct connection between the people in the legislature, like Mr. (state Sen. Ed) Worley, (D-Richmond) and Mr. (state Rep. Harry) Moberly, (D-Richmond), who provided us this fantastic opportunity to have the Carnegie labs, and the positive impact we’re already seeing in one year,” Floyd said.

The district’s high school academic index was 77.3, including the following school-by-school data.

• Madison Central High School had an overall academic index of 79.9 with 101.99 in arts and humanities and 90.29 in reading.

• Madison Southern High School had an overall academic index of 70.5 with an accountability index growth of 3.7. The school had a reading score of 91.85.

At the high school level, Floyd said teachers are working to develop common and end-of-course assessments to measure student progress, and they are meeting to plan instruction in teams.

Gear Up grant funds also have been utilized to continue the specific focus on math instruction aimed in preparing students for the Algebra II requirement.

“In the past several years, we’ve placed serious energy and effort into the mathematics content area and that is really beginning to pay off,” Floyd said. “We have a responsibility to provide a foundation for every student to be successful through Algebra II. As a district, we are continuing to build on this important work.

The only way to move the school district toward a positive direction is by improving instruction, Floyd said.

Principals and district eWalk teams are conducting walk-throughs at each school to provide the teaching staff with feedback on instructional practices, said Floyd, who also pointed to the abundance of instructional technology for the district’s successes.

The numbers of volunteers assisting daily in providing services to the students also is unprecedented, he said.

“I’m hopeful for future partnerships with entities like Eastern Kentucky University to get more assistance with folks,” Floyd said. “I know EKU also is very interested in partnering with us. We are so excited about the potential of these partnerships to put more willing, capable professionals with our students, especially those who need interventions.”

“This is a school district that is not relying on CATS or any one data source to make instructional decisions,” he said. “... We believe that there have been significant decisions made to incorporate technology into the everyday classroom that will pay big dividends when partnered with our excellent teaching and support staff.”

The overall district accountability index rose from 82.2 to 84.2 in 2007.

The percentage of students scoring in the state’s lowest category of novice also dropped from 14.3 percent to 10.8 percent.

District-wide, there were 31 different areas where Madison County schools scored above 100.

“Anytime a school or district can reduce the number of kids scoring in that bottom quarter, that means you’re going to raise the number in (the apprentice, proficient and distinguished,)” Floyd said. “We have moved the number of novices from 14.2 to 10.8 percent. We’re moving toward a goal of zero. That’s a testament to the wonderful teachers and staff that we have.”

“The Madison County School District is ensuring that every student counts and is moving toward its CATS district goal,” he said. “Targets are in sight and the goals are very reachable.”

Bryan Marshall can be reached at bmarshall@richmondregister.com or 624-6691.