Good news for Starkville High School came in last year’s test scores.

    The U.S. History scores remained similar to past years, though high scores in the past made that a success in itself.  Biology scores haven’t been released because the 2011 spring test was a new version, but significant improvements came in the English II and Algebra I tests, which saw an 8% and 23% increase respectively in Proficient and Advanced scores. 

    The English II test is the one most commonly failed, according to sophomore counselor Jenny Kilpatrick.

    “SHS had very substantial increases,” Kilpatrick said.  “An 8% increase is tremendous.”

    According to Algebra I teacher Mailande Easley, the scores had little to do with the A/B schedule.

    “Last year we were on the alternating days, and I don’t think the days had anything to do with it,” Easley said.  “However, when we were out for the snow days, the district told us not to worry about it.  I don’t remember ever being pushed at such a fast pace.”

    The pace, according to Easley, may have contributed to the increase.

    “I was worried about those who couldn’t keep up,” Easley said.  “But toward the end, I was relieved because we had covered the material.  We had more time to review for this test.”

    Lenora Hogan-Samuel, the SHS administrator in charge of curriculum, thinks the classroom preparation last year led to the increased scores.

    “We had more SMART Boards,” Hogan-Samuel said.  “We also purchased the USA Testprep.”

    USA Testprep is an online system that allows students to practice outside of the classroom for their respective test(s).  They can access practice tests of varying length, quizzes, and practice problems for the various competencies in each state test. 

    According to Hogan-Samuel, the practice problems can be assigned by teachers as homework in the target areas for each student’s needs.

“I can go in and select which area, like data analysis and probability,” Hogan-Samuel said.  “It’s the one that students have the most trouble with and it counts more than any of the others.”

    She also said that the Title I program may have helped the increased scores.

    “We met all our goals for Title I last year,” Hogan-Samuel said.  “Title I helps individual students.  There are certain things we can and can’t buy.  Last year we bought novels, SMART Boards and the projectors to go with them, and clickers.”

    The clickers allow students to have interactive tests on the SMART Boards and put in their answers electronically.  As each student answers the projected question, their name appears on the bottom so that progress can be tracked by each question.  At the end, the tests are graded by the computer.  The teacher can look back to see what questions were missed the most often and which wrong answers the students selected.

    Hogan-Samuel brought SHS’s single clicker around to different classrooms last year, but with three new clickers, she hopes to give permanent homes to several.

    Overall, the teachers agree that improvement is welcome.

    “It was just a good year,” Easley said.