THOMASVILLE — The official report cards are out for testing scores and city school leaders are reviewing the grades. 

The Thomasville City Schools’ school improvement committee met Tuesday to discuss the 2017 College and Career Ready Performance Index (CCRPI) scores. 

Individual 2017 CCRPI school scores were: 

Harper Elementary: 52.8 (3.3 increase)

Jerger Elementary: 86.2 (1.4 increase)

Scott Elementary: 70.9 (2.0 decrease)

MacIntyre Park Middle School: 64.4 (3.8 decrease)

Thomasville High School: 68.1 (4.3 increase) 

As a school system, the city improved in CCRPI district scoring, said Dr. Daniel Oldham, assistant superintendent of teaching, learning, and assessment. 

The Thomasville City Schools scored a 70.3 district score in 2017, a increase from 2016’s 68.9. 

“So we showed improvement,” Oldham said. 

Three of the five schools, Jerger, Harper, and Thomasville High, also hit CCRPI’s 3 percent mark, Oldham said. MacIntyre Park Middle and Scott did not hit the mark due to difficulty in changing the formula for calculation, Oldham pointed out.

Superintendent Dr. Laine Reichert explained how points are garnered and the four scoring categories. 

“They are literally building the plane as they are flying it,” Reichert said of scoring, adding hitting the scoring mark is often like a moving target. 

In 2017, Reichert noted, progress points, one of four CCRPI categories, changed. Only fifth and eighth graders, along with high school students, are tested in all four subjects, Reichert added

“That has affected our scores,” she said. 

During testing, elementary students have to complete “career cluster lessons” and fifth grade testing has a “career portfolio,” portion, the superintendent pointed out. 

Reichert also noted the difficulty in students maintaining missing fewer than six days, which is one of 18 testing indicators.  

“That is hard to achieve,” she said.  

Said Oldham, “You just pray you don’t have a bad flu season.”  

Both city school leaders noted the challenge points category will go away. 

“In our district, we don’t earn a lot of challenge points,” Oldham noted. 

Testing indicators are also subject to change. 

“It’s important to understand the number of indicators,” Oldham said, adding elementary and middle school will shift to 11 testing indicators and high school to 15. 

Testing indicators will carry more weight, Oldham said.  

“So really, they’re getting down to the nitty-gritty,” Oldham said of the changes. 

Each school, Reichert said, has highlights and strengths regarding scoring. The district goal is figure out a way to cascade those down across the board, she added. 

City school principals will present their plans to address CCRPI score improvements at the monthly Thomasville City School board meeting Nov. 14, 5 p.m.  

For more information regarding Thomasville City Schools’ CCRPI scores, go to www.gadoe.org/CCRPI.