Anthony Cloud

Staff Writer

The dreaded K-PREP scores — causing headaches for many schools and districts across Kentucky — were discussed during the Pineville School Board meeting this week. As with many other schools, board members and faculty were not pleased with the results.

Supervisor Paula Goodin reported the overall score for the elementary grades was 46.7, with the goal for the next assessment in May being 62.5.

For the middles grade levels, the overall score was 54, she said, adding the new goal for the next testing window is 58.7.

And, according to Goodin, the high school’s overall score was 49.7, with the goal for May being set at 58.4.

As a whole, the Pineville district scored a 50.1. The goal for the district in the spring assessment is 58.4.

K-PREP is broken down into five different areas — achievement, gap, growth, college and career readiness and graduation rate.

The achievement portion of the exam is based on how well an individual scores on the exam. Growth is based on how students improve each year. Gap scores reflect on how well minority groups score on the test.

College and career readiness is affected by the EXPLORE, ACT and other assessments.

The graduate rate is based on the number of students that enroll as freshmen in comparison to the number of students who graduate four years later.

Though some test scores were lower than anticipated, there were many areas where the school scored above the state average. These included the middle and high school grade levels.

In reading, the middle grades scored a 60.5, beating the state average by 1.5 points. The middle grades also scored above the state average in science, writing, language mechanics and social studies. These areas received a perfect score.

The high school scored above the state average in science with a 55.6. The state average was 52.8.

Goodin stated she believes the next scores will show improvement.

“Our children are learning everyday,” said Goodin.

Following the presentation of the K-PREP scores, the focus shifted to the EXPLORE and PLAN assessments, which were taken in September. The EXPLORE exam is the eighth grade predictor for how students will score as juniors on the ACT exam which is crucial for college admission. The PLAN exam predicts how sophomores are progressing and will score on the ACT.

With the EXPLORE exam, Goodin said there was a slight drop in English and reading. She then stated there was a growth in math and science. Overall, the district dropped a tenth of a point.

The school is accountable for the percentage of students who meet the benchmark in three subjects — English, reading and math.

In English, 76.7 percent of the students met the benchmark. Results for reading show 40 percent of students met the benchmark, while in math only 26.7 percent of the children met benchmark.

Scores increased in each aspect of the PLAN exam for sophomores.

In English, the score increased for 14.8 to 15.8. The math scores increased from 15.6 to 15.8. The reading score increased from 14.7 to 16.9. Science scores increased from 16.3 to 17.5.

The overall score for the district in the PLAN exam increased from 15.7 to 16.7.

“Anytime you move up a point on any type of ACT exam you are doing well,” said Goodin.

When it came to students performing at benchmark level, 60 percent of the students met the English benchmark. In reading, 47.5 percent were reading on benchmark level while only 15 percent were at the science benchmark. Only 7.5 percent of students performed at benchmark in math.

Both Pineville High School principal William Keyes and Pineville Elementary principal Cynthia Smith said they have and continue to implement programs and activities to increase scores.

Keyes said the high school is coming up with a mentoring program that involves school faculty helping children improve on test scores. Keyes said there have been 29 students identified for the program. Each teacher and staff member will have a minimum of one student to mentor.

Keyes stated that everyone should be available for after-school tutoring sessions and teach reading and writing across the curriculum. In addition, Keyes stated he plans to increase expectations for students and have teachers teaching from bell to bell.

He also hopes to increase parent contact.

Smith also showed an interest in starting a mentoring program for students who need improvement, as well as having teachers create a personal growth plan for themselves.

Teachers are also expected to began creating success plans for all students who did not score in the proficient to distinguished range on the K-PREP.

Smith said there are plans to enhance the after-school program and purchase new testing material that will model the new standards established by the state.

Anthony Cloud is a staff writer for the Middlesboro Daily News. He can be contacted via email at acloud@heartlandpublications.com or by phone at 606-248-1010, ext. 208.