The Texas Education Agency (TEA) began releasing the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) testing results on Friday, May 15, and the preliminary review of the numbers suggest that Forney ISD will be rated a Recognized district for 2009.

The final individual school and district ratings won’t be released by the TEA until August 1, but significant percent increases in each grade level and at each campus suggest that Forney ISD could have a total of five campuses rated Exemplary, four rated Recognized and three rated Academically Acceptable.

“When we began analyzing the data and evaluating the scores from across the district, we realized that there were some phenomenal improvements from last year in every grade and in almost every subject area tested,” said Dr. Darrell Brown, Forney ISD Superintendent of Schools. “We were confident throughout the year that our students were going to improve their scores from last year, but we were astonished at the significant gains that were actually made.”

All 3rd through 11th grade students in the State of Texas are required to take various sections of the TAKS each year. All grade levels are tested in Reading/English Language Arts (ELA) and math. Students in the 4th and 7th grades also take the writing portion of TAKS. Students in the 5th, 8th and 11th grades also take the science TAKS test and students in the 8th grade, 10th grade and 11th grade also take social studies TAKS tests.

Across the district, the number of students passing each section of the TAKS test increased from 2008. A total of 96 percent of the students passed the Reading/ELA test while 87 percent passed the math portion of the TAKS test. A total of 96 percent of students in Forney ISD passed the writing portion of the TAKS test and 94 percent passed the Social Studies portion of the TAKS test. The district also saw a seven percent increase in students passing the science portion of the 2009 TAKS test with 84 percent passing the science section as compared to 77 percent in 2008..

“Every teacher and campus administrator should be extremely proud of the success we are seeing with these early TAKS results,” Dr. Brown stated. “These results are a true reflection of the dedication and determination of the campus staff in a collaborative effort with central administration. I can’t begin to put into words how proud I am of our staff and our students for their outstanding success not only on the TAKS scores, but throughout the entire school year.”

The final results and accountability ratings for each campus and for the district as a whole will not be officially released by the TEA until August 1, 2009.

For more information about the Forney Independent School District, contact Larry Coker, Director of Communications at larry.coker@forneyisd.net or by phone at 972-564-4055.