Anthony Cloud

Staff Writer

Pineville Elementary Principal Cynthia Smith gave an update on the winter MAP Reading assessment during the school board meeting on Monday. Smith brought good news as each grade increased the percentage of students at the reading benchmark.

As a whole, Pineville increased by 12 percent, bringing the percentage of students at benchmark to 52 percent. Overall, Elgin scores only averaged a 4 percent increase.

At the kindergarten level, Pineville has 81 percent of their students reading at benchmark level. In the fall, there were 71 percent of students reading at benchmark. In the Elgin Initiative, 58 percent of students were reading at benchmark at the kindergarten level.

At the first grade level, Pineville increased the number of students reading at grade level by 13 percent. They currently have 55 percent of the students reading at grade level, the same percentage of students of the whole Elgin Initiative.

The second grade level was the main area of concern for the Pineville district. In the fall, Elgin representatives reported only 18 percent of the second grade at Pineville was reading at benchmark. Smith reported the school increased 20 percent from 18 percent to 38 percent.

At the third grade level, Pineville schools increased by 8 percent from fall to winter, improving the percentage to 42 percent of benchmark. The entire Elgin initiative increased by 3 percent.

Pineville Superintendent Terry Hayes stated he met with the vice president of Elgin following the previous presentation because he and the board had concerns about the scores.

Hayes stated he met with each teacher individually and then as a group to discuss concerns among the group. Hayes then took concerns to the Elgin’s vice president. He also said he felt the teachers were being held “hostage” by Elgin because Elgin was dictating what the teachers were doing in the classrooms.

Following his meeting with the vice president, Hayes stated Elgin was more than willing to be flexible with the school. There were a few changes made that Hayes believes helped with the overall scores on the test.

Anthony Cloud can be reached via email at acloud@civitasmedia.com or by phone at 606-248-1010, ext. 208.