MIDDLESBORO — Middlesboro schools have seen an improvement in their transition index for 2009. According to the Kentucky Association of School Councils (KASC) website, elementary, middle, and high schools in the district saw improvement or remained successful.

“The Middlesboro School District made Adequate Yearly Progress and met 13 out of 13 goals, “ said Middlesboro Schools Superintendent Dr. Rita Cooke. “As a district... we ranked 57th in the state. We felt really positive about that.”

According to the KASC’s website, “the department of education will release the overall school scores for each tested subject— reading, math, social studies, and science. Our group will use those subject area scores to calculate an overall performance score, which we are calling a ‘transition index.’”

Middlesboro High School was ranked “on track to 100” by the KASC , starting at 65 on the transition index in 2007, then climbing to 73 and then 80 in 2008 and 2009. More impressively, On-Demand Writing was ranked in the top ten for the state with a transition index of 93.

“Our district has made significant improvements over the last three years,” said Middlesboro High School Principal Sheila Smith. “We did show a lot of improvement in test scores overall. Our academic index went from 65 to 80 in over two years.”

“We’re pretty excited about that,” said Cooke. She added that several schools around the state have come to observe the high school’s writing program. “But all of our schools are doing well and improving.”

All of the district’s elementary schools remained over 100 on their transition index, hovering just over 100 for the past three years. Middle schools were ranked “improving” moving from 81, 82, to 85 on their transition index each year from 2007.

“Our teachers have done a great job. I think the scores reflect that,” said Cooke. “But I want to stress that these scores are just one part of the puzzle. There are lots of other ways we measure student performance. We want to look at a lot of different things. We want to monitor how are students are doing.”

Stephen Woodward is a Staff Writer for the Daily News. He may be contacted at swoodward@middlesborodailynews.com.