Students in Wylie Independent School District posted good numbers on STAAR end of course examinations administered this year.

The end of course results for high school level classes are the first to be released by Texas Education Agency. Results for testing for students in grades three through eight will be available in mid June.

STAAR is the acronym for State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness. Students must pass end of course tests in Algebra I, Biology, U.S. History, English I and English II to earn a high school diploma. A passing grade is designated as “approaches grade level.”

“This is always a team effort – there are so many folks involved – and in the end, our kids are the winners. You guys make all the difference,” WISD Deputy Superintendent Kim Spicer declared in a note to school trustees.

“Our teachers, kids and administrators work so hard every day and the results are evidence of their efforts. I am so incredibly proud!” she continued.

WISD students performed best on the mathematics, science and history exams

Out of 1,133 WISD junior and senior high school students taking the Algebra I examination, 96 percent met the approaches grade level standard, 83 percent met grade level and 63 percent mastered grade level. In comparison to 2017, more students met and mastered the test.

Biology results for 1,092 high school students taking the test showed 97 percent approached, 88 percent met and 53 percent mastered grade level.

In U.S. History, 98 percent of senior high students approached grade level, 90 percent met grade level and 67 percent mastered the test.

The English I test was administered to 1,1,41 students in senior high school. Results showed that 84 percent approached, 73 percent met and 15 percent mastered the standard.

English II results were slightly better than English I. Of the 1,095 senior high school students tested, 89 percent approached, 77 percent met and 15 percent mastered the examination.

Third, fifth, seventh and eighth grade students were all tested in reading and mathematics, science was added for seventh and eighth grade, and a social studies test was taken by eighth grade students.

Joe Reavis • [email protected]

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