Stephens County students exceed AYP

Stephens County students exceeded the state averages for standardized test scores this year across a variety of different grade levels.

Sherrie Whiten, the assistant superintendent for the county school system, presented the detailed test scores to county school board members on Tuesday. The Georgia Department of Education announced last month that all of the schools in the county met the adequate yearly progress (AYP) requirements this year.

“We are very proud of our students, teachers, and administrators,” said Jerry Steele, the chair of the county school board.

Stephens County students in third through eighth grade passed the math portion of the state’s annual Criterion-Referenced Competency Test by a rate of 83.1 percent this year and the state average was only 72.1 percent. The percentage of high school juniors that passed the English language arts portion of the Georgia high school graduation test reached 92.5 percent while the state average was 90.6 percent.

Whiten said that the teachers in the county school system have worked really hard to educate the children. She also said that community has really worked well with the school system and that is also a big key to the school system’s success.

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