25 May 2004
Moses: Results Are Encouraging With Gains In Some Schools As High As 40 Points
DALLAS—Preliminary 2004 TAKS results for Dallas Independent School District students showed gains in all areas of the state's mandatory tests, with DISD students scoring within an eight-point margin of the state's average scores in grades three, six and 11.
Individual school achievements over the 2003 TAKS left some district schools posting gains as high as 30 points in reading, 37.2 points in math, 39.8 in writing, 57.7 in science and 25.1 in social studies.
According to comparisons between the district's gains and state gains, DISD students exceeded state gains in every grade and category except eleventh grade science.
DISD Superintendent Mike Moses on Tuesday highlighted some of the significant improvements in the district and commended teachers and students for their hard work.
"The gains we have seen on this year's TAKS test are encouraging and come as very good news as we complete the school year," Moses said. "There have been significant improvements in the reading, math, writing, science and social studies scores in the Dallas ISD. While we always recognize the need for continuous improvement, this school year will have brought about further advancement in learning and achievement in this district. We definitely need to give praise to the students in third, sixth and eleventh grade for the work they have done to significantly improve performance in our district."
The most overall noted gains for DISD were in the 20.6-point gain in eleventh grade reading scores and a 19.3-point gain in eleventh grade math. DISD's eleventh grade reading scores were 2.9 points below the state's average of 87, and 6.9 points below the state's average of 85 in math. DISD eleventh graders were 6.8 points below the state average on science tests and 0.7 of a point behind in social studies scores.
Third grade reading scores continued to climb with an 8.2-point jump in reading, and an 11.9-point increase in third-grade math.
Fourth grade writing scores increased by 14.5 points to an average of 84.2. Fourth-grade students in DISD also increased their scores by 12.2 points in math.
Seventh grade writing scores saw a vast improvement of 18.9 points to 83.9 percent with an additional 180 students being tested in 2004.
"While we are not scoring at the state average, we have a student population that is significantly more economically disadvantaged that the state average. Having said that, we are very pleased that our increases this year are greater than those experienced at the state level. This demonstrates that we are closing the gap between ourselves and other school districts across Texas," Moses said.
Districtwide, there was an improvement of 16.6 points on writing exams, the largest single area of the areas tested. The district's science scores also advanced by 15.5 points with an additional 1,430 students more being tested in 2004 than in 2003.
Moses said observations of the school-level data reveal where the hard work and dedication has been done in the 2003-04 school year.
"We have seen significant progress and continuous improvement made in the district this year; we need to continue to seek improvements as we move forward into the future," Moses said.
At the high school level, schools such as Woodrow Wilson saw gains of 25.9 in reading, 20.5 points in math, and 19.9 in science. David W. Carter saw a 26.3-point jump in science scores. North Dallas High School saw a 24.6-point jump in reading. James Madison posted a 29.8-point gain in reading, an 18.6-point gain in math, a 28.2-point gain in science, and 25.1-point gain in social studies.
At the middle school level there were considerable gains in writing scores at T. W. Browne where they improved by 26.2 points, E. H. Cary (27.0), E. B. Comstock (28.9), Fred Florence (27.0), John B. Hood (20.6), Thomas Marsh (21.5), Spence (20.0), Boude Storey (27.2), D.A. Hulcy (24.4), Sarah Zumwalt (28.2), and Edison Learning Center, where they posted a gain of 28.4 points in writing.
Oliver W. Holmes Middle School also posted a 37.2-point jump in math scores.
At the elementary school level, more than 20-point gains were seen in reading at Arlington Park (30), Martin Luther King Learning Center (22.2), Amelia Earhart (23.8), and at Sequoyah (22.2).
Elementary schools that posted more than 20-point gains in math included Arlington Park (23.9), Martin Luther King Learning Center (26.2), B.F. Darrell (23.0), Amelia Earhart (24.2), Nathaniel Hawthorne (25.1), Albert Sidney Johnston (27.7), Ascher Silberstein (23.1), T.G. Terry (22.3), Priscilla Tyler (40.5), Nancy Jane Cochran (31.2), Maynard Jackson (24.3), Joseph McMillan (22.5), Fred Douglass (34.8), and Esperanza Medrano (25.5).
The elementary schools that posted improvements of more than 30 points in writing included Arlington Park (31.6), David G. Burnet (34.0), Vickery Meadows (36.8), Charles Gill (34.4), Nathaniel Hawthorne (39.1), Obadiah Knight (32.2), Robert E. Lee (32.3), Umphrey Lee (32.3), Roger Q. Mills (33.3), George Peabody (39.8), E. D. Walker (31.1), Birdie Alexander (31.3), and John W. Runyon with a 30.9-point increase.
The elementary schools that posted improvements of more than 25 points in science included William M. Anderson (41.1), W. A. Blair (25.8), John Neely Bryan (28.2), W.W. Bushman (31.8), George Washington Carver (37.4), Julius Dorsey (47.6), Amelia Earhart (49.8), Tom Field (42.4), Nathaniel Hawthorne (39.6), Lida Hooe (29.2), Albert Sidney Johnston (57.7), Kleberg (25.2), Obadiah Knight (35.7), Ben Milam (25.0), George Peabody (38.4), Martha Turner Reilly (25.7), Reinhardt (33.8), Clinton P. Russell (40.5), Harry Stone Montessori (28.6), Mark Twain (28.6), Sudie Williams (39.1), John W. Runyon (43.6), Maynard H. Jackson (26.9), Sequoyah (27.1), Gilbert Cuellar (40.7), Cesar Chavez (37.8), and Esperanza Medrano (36.0).