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Scott High Schools Top Region's SOL Scores

From staff reports

In a comparison of school divisions west of Interstate 77 and with some of the state’s wealthy school systems, Scott County schools have a lot to brag about.

Art Mead, assistant director of the Southwest Virginia Office of the Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service, provided members of the Scott County School Board with a study he conducted comparing Southwest Virginia school systems in passing results of the end of course testing in five subject areas.

At last night’s meeting board members discovered that Scott County Public Schools top three of the five categories among their peer schools and bettered large school divisions such as Fairfax County, Loudoun County and similar schools in four of the categories.

Scott County Division Superintendent Jim Scott said the county’s excellent standing is a tribute to the extra effort asserted by staff, students and parents.

“We have been fortunate to hire great teachers, who have worked hard to make sure their students excel,” Scott explained. “This goes back to when SOL tests were introduced and our staff was motivated to do well. And after that a sense of pride kicked in and now the teachers, parents and students continue that tradition.”

Scott County schools are currently conducting end of course Standards of Learning tests for students completing specific one-semester classes targeted by the state.

In Mead’s study, 15 school divisions in Southwest Virginia were ranked according to their division summary of high school scores in SOL tests in writing, geometry, algebra II, biology and chemistry. Scott County earned top honors in writing, biology and chemistry. The county finished second in geometry and fifth in algebra II testing results.

Scott County Public Schools also scored better than Fairfax County, Falls Church City, Loudoun County, Virginia Beach City, Henrico County Albemarle County and Prince William County in four of the five SOL topics.

With a division summary of 96.84 percent in the writing portion, Twin Springs High School earned a 100 percent passing rate. Rye Cove and Gate City students also easily passed the writing SOL with Rye Cove at 97.37 percent and Gate City at 95.24 percent.

A breakdown of the larger school divisions begins with Fairfax County at 93.03 percent and ends with Prince William County at 86.54 percent.

In the biology end of course testing, two of the county’s high schools earned perfect passing rates. All of the students at Gate City and Twin Springs that attempted the biology SOL test passed it. Rye Cove wasn’t far behind with a pass rate of 90.24 percent. The division boasted a 96.04 percentage passing rate overall, again bettering all Southwest Virginia schools and the larger school divisions as well.

Gate City students in chemistry were perfect in terms of passing the end of course SOL to put the county in the top spot in that category as well. Henrico County fell short of Scott County’s mark with a 97.38 percentage of passing rate.

Twin Springs led the county with a 96.67 percent passing rate in the geometry SOL. Gate City at 92.31 percent and Rye Cove at 91.67 percent allowed Scott County Public Schools to claim second place (93.33) among the 15 Southwest Virginia school divisions.

Wythe County Public Schools claimed the top spot in the geometry division with a 95.34 percentage. Only Falls Church City was able to score slightly higher than the county among the larger-sized school divisions with a 96.88 percent passing rate.

In the algebra II category, Scott County earned a 95.61 percentage which put them in fifth place, by only a few hundreds of percentage points. Wythe County again earned top honors with a 95.99 percent.

Falls Church City topped the large school division with a 95.38 percentage, which was bettered by Scott County Public Schools.

All of the Rye Cove students passed the algebra II test to lead the county scores. Twin Springs and Gate City earned passing percent rates of 94.34 and 90, respectively.

The 15 Southwest Virginia school divisions included in the study in addition to Scott County included Bland County, Bristol City, Buchanan County, Dickenson County, Galax City, Grayson County, Lee County, Norton City, Russell County, Smyth County, Tazewell County, Washington County, Wise County and Wythe County.

Mead chose the following school divisions for the comparison study because they have a statewide reputation for wealth and quality education in kindergarten through 12th grade: Albemarle County, Fairfax County, Falls Church City, Henrico County, Loudoun County, Prince William County and Virginia Beach City.

He also selected the five SOL topics because of their relevance to the recruitment of high tech industries. Mead stated in the study the topics are less vulnerable to the common complaint that SOL tests cause teachers to “teach to the test.”

The study cements the county’s claim that students in Scott County Public Schools are among the top schools in Virginia in earning SOL passing rates.

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