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August 10, 2010

Cullman City Schools ranked 3rd in state in Stanford 10 student test scores

By Trent Moore The Cullman Times

Cullman City Schools reported record high Stanford 10 test scores for last year, while the Cullman County Board of Education is slightly above the state average.

The city school system ranked third in Alabama, with a percentile average of 79.33 when compared to school systems around the state and nation.

The average was good enough for the city system to climb to third in the state in Stanford 10 scores — behind only Mt. Brook City with an 89.5 average, and Vestavia Hills City schools with an 82.33 average. In 2008-2009, the city system ranked sixth in the state.

“Teacher’s make a difference in the classroom with student achievement, and when all of them work together students learn more,” city schools superintendent Dr. Jan Harris said. “Our students worked very hard and we’re all very pleased.”

In the Cullman County school system, student scores averaged in the 59.16 percentile — a few points above the state average of 56.92.

“That’s really good to hear and it’s great news for us, but we still have to work harder,” county schools superintendent Hank Allen said. “We can’t get complacent now and we have to move forward and find new and innovative ways to teach and make a difference.”

Student scores from the math and reading portions of the Stanford 10 — which is given to students from third grade until eighth grade — were averaged to determine the overall percentiles. The Stanford 10 test is administered at school systems across the country, and is partially used to determine a system’s Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP), per the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

Cullman City Schools testing coordinator Sharon Windham said the system’s high scores are an excellent barometer to see how Cullman students fare when compared to other areas.

“This test is based on norms from across the country, and compares our students with other students in the same grade levels,” she said. “It shows us how they are performing with their peers across the nation, and they’re doing a great job.”

Windham said the top three finish is due in large part to a spirit of cooperation across the system.

“We have great parents, great students, great teachers and the overall faculty and staff all do a fantastic job,” she said. “We have tremendous community support, and the support we get from the city government all goes together to make our students successful. It takes everyone working together, and we’re blessed in Cullman City than everyone is working together.”

Comparing data from the past two years, Harris said the greatest gains occurred in the middle school.

“Math scores went up 12 percent in the middle school and that’s huge,” she said. “All of our schools did better, or at least the same, when compared to last year. It was excellent.”

The Details

Top 10 school systems in Alabama in Stanford 10 test score averages:

  • 1. Mt. Brook City – 89.5
  • 2.  Vestavia Hills City – 82.33
  • 3.  Cullman City – 79.33
  • 4.  Arab City – 78.17
  • 5.  Madison City – 77.25
  • 6.  Homewood City – 77.08
  • 7.  Auburn City – 74.50
  • 8.  Muscle Shoals City – 73.92
  • 9.  Trussville City – 73.5
  • 10.  Guntersville City – 72.92



* Trent Moore can be reached by e-mail at trentm@cullmantimes.com, or by telephone at 734-2131, ext. 220.

 

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