Carson City fifth-graders make marked writing improvement

Carson City's fifth-graders improved by nearly five percentage points in this year's writing results over last year, and more than 10 points higher than two years ago.

"This is a great testimony to what teachers can do when they know the right strategies," said Sue Keema, associate superintendent of educational services, who presented the results at Tuesday's school board meeting.

Last year, 51.1 percent of fifth-graders in the Carson City School District passed the writing test, which is used to gauge proficiency for the federally mandated No Child Left Behind Act.

This year, 55.7 percent tested proficient, compared to a statewide average of 46.9 percent.

Keema said the district kicked off the year with a specific plan to improve writing skills.

Teachers administered mock tests at the beginning of the year, and were trained in the process used by the state to assess those tests. From those results, Keema said, teachers were able to identify the areas where students needed more instruction.

Beth Prause also was hired as a coach to visit area schools to focus on writing.

Some schools, like Fremont and Empire elementary schools, showed significant improvements.

Fremont, which dropped from 43.9 percent in 2007 to 41.4 percent in 2008, jumped to 64.3 percent this year.

Empire showed steady growth from 22.7 percent in 2007 to 33.7 percent in 2008 to 38.3 percent this year.

Empire Principal Evelyn Allred said she was pleased to see the increases.

"We're making nice, steady, sustainable growth," she said. "I attribute that to our fidelity to reading and writing programs, as well as working with (English-as-a-second-language) students."

She said the school is focusing on writing in kindergarten and seeing improvements throughout the grades, which can be difficult at a school where 90 percent of the students are low-income and 71 percent are learning English.

"Oftentimes, our kids struggle at home as well as with learning," Allred said. "We don't let that stand in our way. It's not an excuse, it's just one of our challenges."

Other schools, such as Bordewich-Bray and Mark Twain, dropped from previous years.

Keema said those could be a normal fluctuation in classes' abilities.

For instance, she said, only 18 percent of fifth-graders at Bordewich-Bray Elementary School passed the test at the beginning of the year. School officials hoped to increase that to 50 percent by the spring.

"That's pretty darn good when you start at 18 percent," she said. "It's about growth."

The next step for the district is to "vertically align with the middle school," Keema said, extending the students' success into the next grade level.

2007

State: 47.9 percent

District: 45.2 percent

Bordewich: 59.6 percent

Empire: 22.7 percent

Fremont: 43.9 percent

Fritsch: 46.8 percent

Mark Twain: 34.2 percent

Seeliger: 60.7 percent

2008

State: 44.4 percent

District: 51.1 percent

Bordewich: 62.5 percent

Empire: 33.7 percent

Fremont: 41.4 percent

Fritsch: 53.9 percent

Mark Twain: 49.1 percent

Seeliger: 63.9 percent

2009

State: 46.9 percent

District: 55.7 percent

Bordewich: 53.1 percent

Empire: 38.3 percent

Fremont: 64.3 percent

Fritsch: 61.7 percent

Mark Twain: 44.1 percent

Seeliger: 69.7 percent