Leader staff writer
Junior High students in Cabot know geometry as all 180 students who took the end-of-course-exams at the end of last year scored proficient or advanced, for a 100 percent rating.
In Lonoke, all 35 middle school students who took the algebra end-of-course exam also scored proficient or advanced.
The state Education Department recently released the end-of-course exams in algebra, geometry and biology.
Most area schools did well in the math exams, but no one did very well on the biology test.
Of the three end-of-course exams, algebra is the most important as the state has made that a high-stakes test, meaning that students who do not score well on the test do not get credit for the course regardless of their report card grade in the subject.
Lonoke Middle School students have nothing to worry about there, but a number of Jacksonville High School students do. Out of the 173 students taking the test, just 30 percent scored proficient or better.
Jacksonville was better in geometry with 44 percent of the 198 students taking the test making the cut. However, in biology, the high school had the worst percentage in the Pulaski County School District. Out of 226 students, only 11 percent — about one out of 21 — scored proficient or advanced.
A student can receive one of four scores on the end-of-course exams: advanced, proficient, basic or below basic.
An advanced score is the rough equivalent of an A and means the student has a very solid grasp of the material.
A proficient score equates to a B and means the student has a good knowledge of the subject.
A basic score equates to a D or a C and means the student struggles with the concept.
Below basic, roughly a D or an F, means the student has very little understanding of the subject.
Under the federal No Child Left Behind Act, all students are expected to score proficient or advanced on these exams by the end of the 2013-2014 school year
Statewide, 78 percent of all the students taking Algebra I scored proficient or better, up two percentage points from the 2009-2010 school year.
Beebe Junior Hugh School, Cabot Junior High North, Cabot Junior High South, Jacksonville Middle School, Sylvan Hills Middle School, Ahlf Junior High in Searcy and Searcy High School beat the state average.
State geometry scores went up four points, moving from 69 percent of the students making the grade to 73 percent.
Beebe High School, Cabot Junior High North, Cabot Junior High South, Cabot High School, Cabot’s Academic Center of Excellence, Lisa Academy in Sherwood, Northwood Middle School and Searcy High School beat the state average.
In biology, just 40 percent of the students across the state scored proficient or advanced.
Beebe High School, Cabot High School, Carlisle High School and Searcy High School beat the state average.
Algebra I
In Beebe, 91 percent of the 131 junior high students taking the end-of-course exam scored proficient or better. That fell to 72 percent of the 77 students at the high school taking the exam.
In Cabot, Cabot Junior High South had the best percentage, closely followed by its northern counterpart. Of the 324 students at CJHS taking the exam, 91 percent made the cut. At CJHN, 340 students took the end-of-course test and 89 percent scored proficient or better.
Fifteen high schoolers took the test and just 47 percent of them scored proficient or advanced, while out of 33 ACE students, 57 percent made the cut.
In Carlisle, 53 percent of the 65 high school students taking the test scored well. In England, 50 students took the test and 70 percent of them scored proficient or better.
At the Lisa Academy in Sherwood, 36 students took the algebra exam and 77 percent scored proficient or advanced.
In Lonoke, it was 100 percent, or all 35 students, at Lonoke Middle School making the grade. That fell to 62 percent of the 98 high school students scoring proficient or better.
In PCSSD, Sylvan Hills Middle School did the best and Jacksonville High School the worse.
Of the 63 SHMS students, 93 percent made the cut. At Jacksonville Middle, it was 93 percent out of 60 students tests and at Northwood Middle, 80 percent of the 79 students tested made the cut.
At the high school level, 69 percent of the 122 Sylvan Hills scored proficient or better, 49 percent of the 123 North Pulaski students did well and only 30 percent of Jacksonville’s 173 students scored proficient or better.
In Searcy, 99 percent of the 84 junior high student and 85 percent of the 228 high school students who took the test did well.
Geometry
In Beebe, 74 percent of the 221 high school students taking the test scored proficient or better.
In Cabot, both junior highs were perfect. All 89 students at CJHS and all 91 students at CJHN scored proficient or better on the end-of-course exam. Of the high school’s 487 students taking the test, 79 percent did well and 94 percent of ACE’s 27 students did likewise.
In Carlisle, 70 percent of the 67 students taking the test did well, while 68 percent of England’s 53 high school students scored proficient or better.
At Lisa Academy, 90 percent of its 30 students made the cut and 68 percent of Lonoke’s 138 students did well.
In PCSSD, Northwood led the charge with 11 of 12 students scoring proficient or better. At Sylvan Hills High School, 73 percent of 172 students did well and 69 percent of North Pulaski’s 189 students scored proficient or better. But only 44 percent of the 198 Jacksonville high-schoolers who took the test did well.
In Searcy, 93 percent of its 252 eligible students scored proficient or advanced.
Biology
Among the 224 Beebe High School students who took the science end-of-course exam, 56 percent scored proficient or better.
In Cabot, slightly more than half (56 percent) of its 667 students made the cut and 65 percent of Carlisle’s 54 high school students scored proficient or better.
In England and Lonoke 75 percent or more did not do well. Among England’s 44 students taking the test, just 25 percent made the cut, while just 22 percent of Lonoke’s 140 students made the grade.
Twenty-eight Lisa Academy students took the biology test and 39 percent of them scored proficient or better.
In PCSSD, North Pulaski was tops in the district, yet nine points below the state average and Jacksonville High School was the lowest in the district, 30 points below the state numbers.
Of the 174 NPHS students taking the test, 32 percent scored proficient or better. At Sylvan Hills, 161 students took the test and just 19 percent made the cut. And then at Jacksonville, 226 students took the exam and just 11 percent scored proficient or better.
In Searcy, 273 high school students took the test and 62 percent made the cut.
