Although official notice has not been released from the state, both Floyd County and Rome City school systems expect they made AYP for the 2008-2009 school year after final CRCT scores were released Tuesday.

“This year is extraordinary because it’s the first time that we’ve not had to have any children come back and retake (the CRCT) for AYP,” said Rome City Schools Superintendent Gayland Cooper. “I’m very, very proud of it.”

Adequate Yearly Progress is the annual measure of student participation, achievement of statewide exams and other indicators, including graduation rate and attendance. AYP was implemented under the federal No Child Left Behind Act as a way to hold states and school systems accountable for academic improvement.

According to the Georgia Department of Education, the CRCT (Criteria Referenced Competency Test) “measures how well students acquire the skills and knowledge described in the Georgia Performance Standards.”

The 2009 CRCT scores showed improvement in most grade levels and subject areas for both Rome City and Floyd County school systems.

The scores indicate the percentage of students who failed to meet expectations, met expectations or exceeded expectations.

“Overall our students continue to perform well on standardized testing,” said assistant to the Floyd County Superintendent Tim Hensley.

“We’ll be looking a lot more at all the information in the next few weeks,” he added. “We will look at overall performance and over the past several years, to look at how we did and what our strengths and weaknesses are as a system.”

The exams test first- through eighth-graders in reading, language arts and math.

Additionally third- through eighth-graders are tested in science and social studies.

Johnson Elementary was the only local school to claim a 100 percent pass rate in any one subject area and grade. Every fifth-grader met or exceeded standards in language arts. Additionally, in all five categories, more than 90 percent of students in the fifth grade at Johnson passed the exams.

“I am absolutely thrilled,” said retiring Principal George Brombacher, who said he met with fifth-grade students early in the school year and told them they had an excellent chance to pass all parts of the CRCT.

“It’s the great teachers at Johnson that make it all happen,” said Brombacher. “The fifth-grade test results are the result of every teacher in the building ... and the students who worked hard.”

Known as the “gateway grades,” third-, fifth- and eighth-graders are expected to pass the CRCT in order to advance into the next grade. However, scores from all grades are considered for a school system’s AYP.

In summer 2008, the sixth- and seventh-grade social studies curriculum was revised. The 2009 CRCT in social studies consisted of a field test of newly developed items, and no results are available.

Floyd County seventh-graders saw their overall scores dip this year.

Next year, Floyd County schools will be using federal stimulus dollars to pay for intervention specialists at most of the elementary and middle schools. These specialists will give additional assistance to students struggling in a subject area.

Rome City second-grade scores fell in every subject except at three schools. North Heights had pass-rate increases in every subject for second grade. Main Elementary improved in second-grade reading, and Elm Street remained the same in math.

The percentage of Rome Middle School eighth-grade students who met and exceeded standards increased across the board, and Anna K. Davie fifth-graders improved in every subject area except Social Studies.

Click here to download a PDF with scores from Rome and Floyd County Schools Note about local scores: All numbers are percentages. F refers to "failed to meet expectations," M refers to "met expectations" and E refers to "exceeded expectations." In summer 2008, the sixth and seventh grade social studies curriculum was revised. The 2009 CRCT in social studies consisted of a field test of newly developed items and no results are available.