S-T ISD Students Excel in First Round of TAKS Testing

There is plenty of reason to celebrate in the Skidmore-Tynan ISD. The district is applauding the results of this year's Reading TAKS test for students in the third, fifth and eighth grades.

Superintendent, Dr. Brett Belmarez, reports all three grade levels met the standard of achievement with an 85 percent or higher passing rate during the first round of testing.

"Our third graders overall had about a 91-percent passing rate and 38-percent of those were commended," said Belmarez, "So we're pretty pleased with that performance." Fifth grade had an 87-percent passing rate with 34-percent achieving commended performance. Eighth graders scored perfectly. 100% passed the test and 54-percent received commended performance. “Tremendous performance,” said Belmarez.

Belmarez says the district is celebrating the success of those students achieving commended performance.

"Many make the biggest deal out of whether a child passes the test or not and certainly that is our first concern. We want our young people to experience success so we appreciate good passing rates, but the TAKS test is a test of minimum standards and minimum skills. So we really like for our kids to have more than just a minimum background. The District wants students to be able to perform at levels that allow them to earn that commended performance. This level of performance (commended) means that students are not just meeting minimum standards, but they are mastering the material at a pace that allows them to excel in later grades. These commended performance levels are very good and we're very proud of that fact," said Belmarez.

Most of the success behind this year's reading test lies directly with the teachers. Belmarez says that Skidmore-Tynan staff members continue to do their part to help each child at each grade level master the state mandated test.

"Our teachers spend a great deal of time educating students and teaching students to apply these learned skills in a daily context. I am proud to be a part of a school system that delivers top-notch results from the early grades all the way through to graduation. This is a great start to academic score performance for this year," said Belmarez.

The reading portion of the TAKS was administered to students during the first week in March.