There’s a great deal to be proud of in the just released student testing results for Fayette County public schools.
State accountability data show scores increased at more than 70 percent of Lexington public schools. One success story is found at William Wells Brown Elementary, which increased its score by just over 19 points. It was the lowest performing elementary in the state last year. Jay Jones is the school’s principal. “The secret to success is consistency," Jones said. "Making sure you follow best practices, doing what the research says you should do to improve student achievement and staying the course.”
After four straight years of improvement, Bryan Station High School has been released from ‘persistently low achieving’ status. Principal James McMillin promises continued gains in student scores. “Bryan Station’s scores will go up, we’ve just got to zero in," said McMillin. "What we’re facing now is how do we help? How are we intentional on the deficits that our students are coming to us with?”
Acting Senior Director of Academic Services Marlene Helm says there are areas that still need improvment. “You know that there are things that you always need to do better, differently, more of. There’s some things that we probably need to stop doing,” explained Helm.
The number of students who earned novice ratings on the tests last spring increased and two dozen schools are listed in the ‘needs improvement’ category. Helm says that’s 5 less than last year.?
