Construction is in full swing on the new high school, located off of Metasville Road. Pictured is the gate to the multi-purpose field that sits behind the school. The "gate house" contains restrooms, a concession stand, and two storage rooms. Although Lincoln County fifth and eighth-grade students more or less held their own on the spring administration of the Georgia Writing Assessment, there is always room for improvement.

Concerning the fifth grade, this marks the second consecutive year that the students at LCES have ranked among the top two schools in the CSRA Regional Educational Service Agency's (RESA) 12-county service area.

Historical comparisons of the system percentages to those posted by RESA and the state appear below:

.. Percentages of fifth-grade students who did not meet state standards:

2007 — LCES, 18 percent; RESA, 38 percent; and the state, 30 percent.

2008 — LCES, 11 percent; RESA, 31 percent; and the state, 23 percent.

2009 — LCES, 19 percent; RESA, 29 percent; and the state, 22 percent.

According to Brian Campbell, the county's assistant superintendent for curriculum, "We were below RESA and the state regarding the percentage of our students who did not meet state standards. We are very pleased with this."

He went on to say that concerning the data generated by the subgroups, the percentage of black students at LCES, who did not meet the state standards, has increased over the past three years from 18 to 19 to 21 percent in 2009; whereas, the percentage of white students dropped from 18 to 7 percent and then climbed to 21 percent this year.

.. Percentages of students who met the state standards:

2007 — LCES, 79 percent; RESA, 58 percent; and the state, 62 percent.

2008 — LCES, 75 percent; RESA, 63 percent; and the state, 66 percent.

2009 — LCES, 78 percent; RESA, 67 percent; and the state, 70 percent.

.. Percentages of students who exceeded state standards:

2007 — LCES, 3 percent; RESA, 4 percent; and the state, 8 percent.

2008 — LCES, 14 percent; RESA, 6 percent; and the state, 11 percent.

2009 — LCES, 3 percent; RESA, 4 percent; and the state, 8 percent.

"LCES dropped below RESA and the state in the above category this year," stated Campbell. "We have to look at both extremes. We need to focus not only on the kids not meeting state standards but on those not exceeding state standards as well."

The average scores in the area covered by CSRA RESA are as follows: Columbia County, 218; Lincoln County, 213; McDuffie County, 205; Jefferson County, 204; Warren County, 203; Emanuel County, 202; Burke County, 201; Taliaferro and Richmond counties, 200; Glascock County, 198; Jenkins County, 197; and Wilkes County, 196.

Last year, Lincoln County was ranked number one.

In her remarks, Mandy Etheridge, a fifth-grade language arts teacher at LCES, said, "In preparation for the writing assessment, Julia Leverett, our other fifth-grade language arts teacher, and I instruct students in each writing genre: personal narrative, informative writing, persuasive writing, and exposition. The students are also provided with guided as well as independent practice to help them master the writing skills specified in the Georgia Performance Standards (GPS).

"Writing is one of the most important life skills we teach," she continued. "Everybody needs to be able to express their thoughts in a clear and concise manner."

Regarding the eighth-grade results on the Georgia Writing Assessment, the average scores in the RESA service area were as follows: Columbia County, 215; McDuffie County, 210.43; Lincoln County, 209.82; Taliaferro County, 206.07; Wilkes County, 205.53; Glascock County, 204; Emanuel County, 202.58; Jefferson and Richmond counties, 202.04; Burke County, 199.59; Jenkins County, 196; and Warren County, 190.

A comparison of LCMS percentages to RESA and state scores appears below:

.. Percentages of eighth-graders who did not meet state standards:

2007 — LCMS, 24 percent; RESA, 38 percent; and the state, 33 percent.

2008 — LCMS, 28 percent; RESA, 28 percent; and the state, 22 percent.

2009 — LCMS, 17 percent; RESA, 32 percent; and the state, 25 percent.

"There is good news here," said Assistant Superintendent Campbell. "For 2009, we were 15 percentage points below RESA and 8 percentage points below the state.

"We are seeing a positive trend in this data," he explained. "Forty and 49 percent of black students did not meet the state standards in 2007 and 2008, respectively, but this year, we had only 18 percent designated as 'did not meet'.

"As for the white students, there has been very little movement there. They hovered close to 15 percent all three years."

.. Percentages of students who met state standards:

2007 — LCMS, 68 percent; RESA, 58 percent; and the state, 62 percent.

2008 — LCMS, 69 percent; RESA, 68 percent; and the state, 71 percent.

2009 — LCMS, 82 percent; RESA, 65 percent; and the state, 69 percent.

"We are seeing another very positive trend here," said the assistant superintendent. "This year, we beat the RESA average by 17 percentage points and the state by 13 percentage points."

.. Percentages of students who exceeded state standards:

2007 — LCMS, 7 percent; RESA, 3 percent; and the state, 5 percent.

2008 — LCMS, 3 percent; RESA, 4 percent; and the state, 6 percent.

2009 — LCMS, 1 percent; RESA, 3 percent; and the state, 6 percent.

In reference to these figures, Campbell noted that the number of students exceeding the state standards is decreasing. "Once again, we have to focus on the middle-of-the-road kids and bring them up to where they exceed the standards.

"Looking at a breakdown of the races, the categories are mirroring the overall trend," he continued. "The percentage of black eighth-graders at LCMS exceeding state standards dropped from 5 percentage points in 2007 to zero in 2008 and 2009; whereas, the percentage of white students dropped from 9 percentage points to 4 in 2008 and then to 2 percentage points this year.

"To address the decline in students exceeding the state standards at both LCES and LCMS, we as a system need to increase the rigor. We need to give students more challenging, higher level assignments."

Donna Turner was the spokesman for the eighth-grade language arts teachers at LCMS.

"Writing occurs in the classroom on a daily basis at LCMS," she said. "Impromptu daily journal prompts are assigned so that students become accustomed to writing on the spur of the moment. We also begin writing both persuasive and expository essays very early in the year.

"The writing process is taught so that once students are given a topic, they can move from the planning stages to writing, revision, and finally, the final proof. The state writing rubric is made available to students from the beginning of the school year so they are immediately aware of what is expected of them.

"Writing is stressed both in the academic classrooms and in the connection classrooms," said Turner. "The ultimate goal is to have students take ownership of their work — to continue to polish and refine their writing until it represents their best possible effort."

In concluding comments on the fifth and eighth-grade writing assessments, Assistant Superintendent Campbell said, "There are places in the data where we are improving, but there are still areas we need to work on. We are continually seeking ways to promote writing at all three schools."

For the first time ever, Lincoln County students in grades K-12 participated in the Young Georgia Authors' Writing Competition this year. The system produced both a district and a state winner.

For more information, see the article on Chelsey Broom and Morgan Reese appearing elsewhere in this issue of The Lincoln Journal.