Elementary and middle school students of the Union County School District improved their performance in many of the subjects tested on the 2012 Palmetto Assessment of State Standards (PASS) exam.

In a statement released Thursday, Tabitha Talley, coordinator of instruction, announced that district students had “demonstrated significant gains on 2012 PASS (Palmetto Assessment of State Standards) testing. Last May, students in grades 3 through 8 took the state test in English Language Arts (ELA) reading and research, Mathematics, Science, and Social studies. Students in grades 5 and 8 also took the state writing test in March.”

First administered in 2009, PASS replaced PACT (Palmetto Achievement Challenge Test) as the South Carolina elementary and middle school measurement for federal and state accountability. PASS results are divided into the categories of:

• Exemplary – The student demonstrated exemplary performance in meeting the grade level standard.

• Met – The student met the grade-level standard.

• Not met – The student did not meet the grade-level standard.

Talley said that students scoring “met” and “exemplary” are included in calculations for passing. She said the percentage of students passing English language arts increased in the fifth, seventh and eighth grades and mathematics scores increased in fourth, fifth and seventh grades.

The percentage of students scoring exemplary in ELA increased in grades 4, 5, 7 and 8 while those scoring exemplary in mathematics increased in grades 4, 5, and 7. Science exemplary scores increased in grades 5 and 7 and social studies exemplary scores increased in grades 4, 5, 7 and 8.

Tested only in grades 5 and 8, both the percentage of students passing grades 5 and 8 improved and eighth grade exemplary improved.

Talley said student performance was strongest in grades 4 and 5 and seventh grade saw the biggest improvement across all subjects tested. Fourth grade had an increase in mathematics, science and social studies. Fifth grade had an increase in ELA, math and science. Seventh grade saw an increase in every subject tested.

Third grade students outperformed the state average in ELA while fourth grade students outperformed the state average in math and social studies and fifth grade students outperformed the state average in ELA, math and science.

Individual PASS student reports were distributed at each elementary and middle school. Parents who have questions should contact their student’s guidance counselor.

PASS Results By Subject

Writing

Writing was tested only at grades 5 and 8. The writing test included multiple-choice questions and one extended-response (essay) item. Fifth-graders had a “passing” percentage of students meeting the standard of 68.2 percent. The eighth-grade passing score was 71.5 percent, an increase of 13.5 from 2011.

English Language Arts (Reading And Research)

The ELA test includes multiple-choice questions based on reading passages. Third-graders had the highest passing percentage at 82.0 percent. Grade 6 was lowest at 60.1 percent.

Mathematics

The math test contained only multiple-choice items. Grades 4 and 5 had the best passing rate at 78.8 and 76.1 percent. Grade 6 was lowest at 67.4 percent.

Science

The fifth grade passing rate of 76.4 percent was highest on this multiple-choice test. Grade 6 was lowest at 53.6 percent.

Social Studies

This test also contained only multiple-choice questions. Grade 4 had the best passing rate at 81.3 percent while Grade 7 was lowest at 59.6 percent.

Exemplary Performance

Third grade had the highest percentage of students scoring at the exemplary level in a subject — 51.2 percent for English language arts. Sixth grade recorded the smallest percentage of exemplary scores in a subject with 2.4 percent in science.

Grade 7 had the highest percentage of exemplary level scores in mathematics (34.8 percent). Grades 5 and 8 had the highest exemplary percentage for science at 26.1 and 25 percent. Grade 8 had the highest exemplary percentage in social studies at 37.6 percent.

Comparison Of Union County 2012 Results For All Students To 2011 Results

Grade 3

ELA (reading and research) — 82.0 percent met or showed exemplary performance in meeting the grade-level standard down from 85.6 in 2011. The state average was 80.3 percent.

Mathematics — 70.6 percent met or showed exemplary performance in meeting the grade-level standard down from 75.2 percent. The state average was 72.5 percent.

Science — 57 percent met or showed exemplary performance in meeting the grade-level standard down from 71.3 percent. The state average was 60.7 percent.

Social Studies — 69.6 percent met or showed exemplary performance in meeting the grade-level standard down from 79.7 percent. The state average was 74.6 percent.

Grade 4

ELA (reading and research) — 75.6 percent met or showed exemplary performance in meeting the grade-level standard down from 77.2 percent. The state average was 78.2 percent.

Mathematics — 78.8 percent met or showed exemplary performance in meeting the grade-level standard up from 76 percent. The state average was 78.4 percent.

Science — 70.3 percent met or showed exemplary performance in meeting the grade-level standard up from 69.5 percent. The state average was 73.8 percent.

Social Studies — 81.3 percent met or showed exemplary performance in meeting the grade-level standard up from 77.2 percent. The state average was 80.9 percent.

Grade 5

Writing — 71.5 percent met or showed exemplary performance in meeting the grade-level standard up from 67.8 percent. The state average was 74.1 percent.

ELA (reading and research) — 78.2 percent met or showed exemplary performance in meeting the grade-level standard up from 72 percent. The state average was 76.5 percent.

Mathematics — 76.1 percent met or showed exemplary performance in meeting the grade-level standard up from 69.5 percent. The state average was 76.1 percent.

Science — 76.4 percent met or showed exemplary performance in meeting the grade-level standard up from 56.8 percent. The state average was 71.7 percent.

Social Studies — 66.0 percent met or showed exemplary performance in meeting the grade-level standard down from 67.3 percent. The state average was 69.9 percent.

Grade 6

ELA (reading and research) — 60.1 percent met or showed exemplary performance in meeting the grade-level standard down from 66.3 percent. The state average was 69.7 percent.

Mathematics — 67.4 percent met or showed exemplary performance in meeting the grade-level standard down from 72.7 percent. The state average was 73.6 percent.

Science — 53.6 percent met or showed exemplary performance in meeting the grade-level standard down from 55.8 percent. The state average was 66.2 percent.

Social Studies — 75.2 percent met or showed exemplary performance in meeting the grade-level standard up from 74 percent. The state average was 77.8 percent.

Grade 7

ELA (reading and research) — 63.6 percent met or showed exemplary performance in meeting the grade-level standard up from 57 percent. The state average was 71.4 percent.

Mathematics — 69.3 percent met or showed exemplary performance in meeting the grade-level standard up from 62.3 percent. The state average was 71.5 percent.

Science — 65.3 percent met or showed exemplary performance in meeting the grade-level standard up from 57 percent. The state average was 74.7 percent.

Social Studies — 59.6 percent met or showed exemplary performance in meeting the grade-level standard up from 46.4 percent. The state average was 68.8 percent.

Grade 8

Writing — 71.5 percent met or showed exemplary performance in meeting the grade-level standard up from 58 percent. The state average was 74.1 percent.

ELA (reading and research) — 61 percent met or showed exemplary performance in meeting the grade-level standard up from 56.7 percent. The state average was 69.8 percent.

Mathematics — 68.2 percent met or showed exemplary performance in meeting the grade-level standard down from 72.4 percent. The state average was 68.6 percent.

Science — 63.9 percent met or showed exemplary performance in meeting the grade-level standard down from 66.1 percent. The state average was 75.4 percent.

Social Studies –67.4 percent met or showed exemplary performance in meeting the grade-level standard up down from 71.7 percent. The state average was 71.4 percent.