Douglas County Juniors Score Historic Highs on State Writing Test

Douglas County students turned in historically high scores on this year’s state writing test.

The Douglas County School System said its students’ 2014 Georgia High School Writing Test scores were the highest they have ever been, with 96 percent of 11th grade first-time test takers meeting or exceeding standards.

“We are very pleased to see writing scores for Douglas County students rise significantly on the GHSWT, earning the highest level of student achievement on the test since 1995,” Superintendent Dr. Gordon Pritz said in a press release. “Our system vision includes building skills for students to become lifelong learners and independent thinkers. The ability to write proficiently is essential for students as they move forward on their educational and career paths. I highly commend this group of students, as well as their teachers, for diligent and successful efforts to concentrate on writing skills.”

• Douglas County High showed the greatest increase of 8 percentage points with 98 percent of students meeting or exceeding standards.
• Chapel Hill High increased 7 percentage points with 98 percent meeting or exceeding standards.
• Lithia Springs High increased 2 percentage points with 94 percent meeting or exceeding standards.
• Alexander High increased 1 percentage point with 97 percent meeting or exceeding standards.
• New Manchester High showed a 1 percent decrease, 96 percent of their students met or exceeded the standards.

“It is encouraging to see our students continue to improve their writing skills. The new assessment system, Georgia Milestones Assessment System or GMAS, requires students to think more critically and be able to defend their thinking through writing,” said Pam Nail, Associate Superintendent. “Writing will continue to be a focus in our schools to not only better prepare our students for the new assessments but to improve their written communication beyond high school.”

Additionally, each subgroup whose performance was measured — Asian, Black, Hispanic, White, Multi, Students with Disabilities, Female, Male, and English Language Learners (ELL) — showed an increase with the exception of Asian and ELL.

This year marked the last full administration of the GHSWT. In the future, students’ writing will be assessed through the Georgia Milestones Assessment System.

— From a submitted press release