By Cristina Waits
TELEGRAM STAFF WRITER
BELTON - Students in the Belton school district posted higher state test scores and a lower dropout rate than Texas and Region 12 averages, state reports show.
The district’s effort to align its curriculum with state expectations is one factor behind students’ success, said BISD superintendent Dr. Vivian Baker.
Available online, the Texas Education Agency’s 2006-07 Academic Excellence Indicator System contains demographic and financial data, as well as results from the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills.
Overall, 74 percent of BISD students passed all portions of TAKS, compared to 70 percent in Texas and 69 percent in Region 12, according to the Nov. 28 report. The results are up from 2006, when 71 percent of BISD students passed.
Passing is defined as meeting the standard to show grade-level proficiency.
Student achievement earned Leon Heights Elementary an exemplary rating, and recognized status for four campuses: Lake Belton Middle School and Lakewood, Sparta and Pirtle elementary schools.
In addition to increased teacher training and collaboration between educators, the district began working five years ago to meld its lessons to the state-mandated Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills curriculum.
“Kids can learn a lot of things in school,” Dr. Baker said. “However, if they are going to be assessed on certain things and there’s just so much time for learning, then we felt it was important to spend that time on what they were going to be assessed on.”
Belton students in grades four through 11 bettered state averages for students passing all of TAKS.
The only grade to trail Texas’ average was Belton’s third grade, with 77 percent of students passing, just one point below the state. In 2005, 85 percent of third-graders passed all portions of TAKS.
Tenth-graders surpassed statewide achievement the most, posting an 11-point spread. Some 62 percent of BISD sophomores passed all of TAKS compared to the state’s 51 percent.
Belton sixth-graders held the highest average passing rate, with 79 percent of students passing all of TAKS.
Fourteen percent of students achieved commended performance on all TAKS tests, achieving at least a 95 percent passing rate. The state and regional averages were 13 and 11 percent, respectively.
Sparta Elementary led the district with 22 percent of students receiving commended performance on all of TAKS. Belton and Lake Belton middle schools followed at 19 percent each, with 18 percent of students at Lakewood and Pirtle commended.
Also finishing well was Belton’s class of 2006, which topped state and regional average completion rates with more than 84 percent of BISD seniors graduating. The graduation rate at Belton High was 90 percent, while 45 percent of Waskow High students graduated. Waskow is the district’s alternative campus offering independent study and progress.
An above-average number of Belton students received General Equivalency Diplomas, at 5 percent. The state and Belton High’s campus group were both 2 percent.
Assigned by the TEA for comparison to other schools, campus groups have similar ethnic and economic makeup. Because it is an alternative school, Waskow does not have a campus group.
Some 5 percent of BISD’s class of 2006 dropped out over four years, compared to the state average of 9 percent. Two percent of students left Belton High without finishing, while 15 percent quit Waskow.
The annual dropout rate for BISD is 3 percent, compared to the state and region average of 4 percent each. The rate cannot be compared to previous years’ data because Texas adopted the federal dropout definition in 2005-06, which includes students previously not considered dropouts by the state.
College-bound BISD students rose above Texas’ mean of 991 with a 1027 on the Scholastic Aptitude Test, but sagged to 19 on the ACT compared to Texas’ 20. Waskow’s mean ACT was 17.
The number of Belton High students taking Advanced Placement tests rose 11 percent to 20, but the number of students who achieved at least one score at or above criterion fell from 64 to 44 percent. The state rate was 51 percent and campus group, 31 percent.
Susan Kincannon, deputy superintendent, said BISD started requiring students in AP courses to take the end-of-course AP exams last year, accounting for the fluctuations.
The attendance rate for BISD’s 7,968 students was one-tenth of a percent below the state average at 95.
The report also shows average instructional spending of $3,443 per pupil, with almost 57 percent of BISD’s operating expenditure of $45.5 million for instruction. Texas requires that school districts spend a minimum of 55 percent on instruction.
Belton teachers average more than 12 years of experience, about one year more than teachers statewide. The turnover rate of 14 percent was below Texas’ norm of 16.
Thirteen percent of BISD teachers have master’s degrees and 47 percent have more than 10 years of teaching experience. Most are female and white, at 81 and 93 percent, respectively. Six percent are Hispanic and African-American, 2 percent.
Ethnically among Belton students, 63 percent are white; Hispanic, 28 percent; African-American, 7 percent; Asian/Pacific Islander, 1 percent; and Native American, 1 percent.
About 45 percent of Belton students were considered economically disadvantaged, meaning they qualified for free or reduced-price meals.
Seven percent of BISD students are limited English proficient, while 41 percent are deemed at-risk.
Thirteen percent were enrolled in special education, more than the state average of 11 percent. Seven percent of BISD students were enrolled in gifted and talented programs, while 17 percent participated in career and technology programs.
The 2006-07 AEIS reports are available at www.tea.state.tx.us.
