Junior high school students ace algebra I STAAR exam, school officials disclose
Snyder High School students showed improvement over the previous year on their End Of Course (EOC) test scores, school district officials announced Thursday.
And the good news wasn’t restricted to the high school, as it was announced that 100 percent of Snyder Junior High School eighth-graders passed their State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) algebra I exams.
Dr. Rachael McClain, assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction for Snyder ISD, was understandably pleased with the improvement shown in test scores.
“I was pleased with the growth at the high school,” McClain said. “We still have a lot of work to do, especially in English, but we had improvement, which shows we’re turning things in the right direction. We’re particularly pleased with the double-digit increases in English I and II and biology.”
EOC scores for Snyder High School show that 53 percent of the students passed the English I exam, compared to 39 percent in 2018, and 50 percent of the students passed the English II exam, compared to 41 percent who passed last year.
Other high school EOC passage rates were 63 percent in algebra I, 83 percent in biology and 91 percent in U.S. history.
Overall, Snyder High School students had a 68 percent passing rate on the EOC tests, McClain said.
“These scores were an overall increase in every department in every test from last year at the high school,” McClain said.
Texas high school students must pass at least three of the five EOC exams before they are allowed to graduate, McClain said.
If they do not meet that standard, they are issued “certificates of completion” in lieu of a diploma.
McClain was happy with the EOC scores, however, she was ecstatic with the eighth graders’ accomplishments on the algebra I STAAR test.
“These scores are a testimony to the hard work put in by teacher Shane Stewart and his students,” she said. “They had a challenge level set before them and they more than met that challenge. I’m very, very excited by these scores.”
Hermleigh ISD officials have declined to release EOC and STAAR results until all test scores are released in June.