Tomball Independent School District announced its preliminary 2009 TAKS scores at a June 8 meeting of the Board of Trustees, scores that Director of Accountability Randy Reedy said reveals some “good news…and some concerns.”

The report presented scores by Tomball ISD students in grades third through 11th for the 2008-09 school year and compared the scores “horizontally,” or with like grades for the past five years, as well as “globally,” or against the state.

One of the most glaring trends was in third grade reading scores.

“2009 was not a good year for third graders,” Reedy said.

In each of the five demographics tested (all students, African Americans, Hispanic, White and Economically Disadvantaged), scores for third grade students were the lowest in five years in both English/Language Arts and Math.

The percentage of African American students meeting TAKS standards dropped 7 percent from 89 percent in 2008 to 82 percent in 2009.

Third grade Economically Disadvantaged students meeting math standards fell off dramatically from 2008 when 81 percent passed. This year, just 63 percent met the testing standards.

Reedy said that the district’s curriculum administrators would “have to look at kindergarten through second grade programs to better prepare students for third grade success.”

Among the highest scores reported for the district were sixth grade reading scores, where each of the five demographics passed at a 90 percent rate or better. African American sixth grade students passed sixth grade reading with a 100 percent mark.

Sixth grade reading scores throughout the past five years have remained high, consistently reaching into the mid-90s.

“When you get up into the mid-90s, it’s hard to make improvement over that, but we always try for 100 percent,” Reedy said.

An example of that would be eighth grade reading, where each of five demographics saw slight dips in 2009, but generally remained in the high to mid-90s in passing percentage.

Math scores saw significant decreases at the high school level, where all ninth and 10th grade students passed the TAKS at a 79 and 77 percent rate, respectively.

While African American math scores continue to steadily increase since 2005, still only 57 percent met standards in ninth grade math. The number increased to 62 percent in 10th grade, up 10 percent from last year.

Eleventh grade English/Language Arts also saw high marks, with 96 percent of all students meeting standards. Those scores were led by White and African American students, who each passed at 98 percent.

Since the State of Texas has yet to release its cumulative scores for 2009, Reedy instead compared this year’s district scores to last year’s state scores, which showed the district outperformed or equaled the state in reading and math at every grade level, including 11 percent better in ninth grade reading.

This year, 10th grade math students scored 14 percent better (77 percent) than did last year’s 10th grade students in the state.

Reedy’s report stated that the comparisons “help determine particular subgroups and grade levels that can be addressed to improve individual student performance.”

This year’s TAKS scores do not become official until the state releases its annual Academic Excellence Indicator System report later this summer.

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