Jackson-Madison Co. TCAP scores improve; some still concerned
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JACKSON, Tenn. — Scores for the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program, or TCAP, released Wednesday show improvement in the Jackson-Madison County School System. Jackson-Madison County students improved in seven out of 10 categories. Ashley Cutno has two children in the district. “I’m really excited that they’re actually doing better,” she said. “That just lets you know that the curriculum that we have is actually good.” Chemistry scores among high school students jumped just over 13 percent, the highest gain in 2015. Third through eighth graders improved just 1 percent in reading and .4 percent in science. “The numbers are at least moving in the right direction,” School Board Member Bob Alvey said. “My concern as a board member is they’re not moving as fast as they need to move.” Scores declined in three categories. Algebra 1 scores dropped 5 percent among high school students. Algebra 2 and Biology 1 scores also declined. “The concern I still have is the number of students who are below basic and basic, and that’s still about six out of every 10 of our students,” Alvey said. Cutno said she is glad students are improving overall. “School’s tough,” she said. “Between you have to deal with grades and bullying and everything else, so as long as they’re going up I think it’s good.” Alvey said he would like to see more discussion about the district‘s reading curriculum. “We still do not have an integrated reading curriculum that‘s aligned to Common Core, and that‘s been a concern I‘ve voiced now for several years with Dr. Ruffin,” Alvey said. The Tennessee Department of Education said overall the scores show strong gains in high school and significant gains in grades three through eight math.
