Demopolis City Schools ARMT scores in top 25 statewide

Pride in what Demopolis students have accomplished was evident as Dr. Al Griffin, superintendent of Demopolis City Schools, reviewed the scores of the 2013 Alabama Reading and Math Test (ARMT).

Given last spring to grades 3 through 8, the test was a measure of college and career readiness, said Griffin. The Demopolis system ranked 22 out of 134 systems in the state.

Griffin said 19 percent of the students ranked in the highly proficient category; 56 percent, proficient; 6 percent, average, and 19 percent, partially proficient. None of the students fell in the lowest level.

In the four years since Griffin has been superintendent, students have made double-digit gains in reading and math scores on the ARMT, even though the last one was a more rigorous exam.

In the spring of 2014, students across the state were given another test, the ACT ASPIRE, which is replacing the ARMT and is a precursor to the ACT administered in the 11th grade. Results of that test should be released in September.

Griffin said the information gleaned from the exam will be used “to set our instructional path” through 2020.

“The credit first of all goes to our classroom teachers, those that are in the trenches every day,” he stressed.

When Griffin took over as superintendent, the approach he took was to apply “what I knew would benefit students, and that is data analysis and remediation on an individual level.”

The school system partnered with STI (Software Technology Incorporated). STI provided individualized student analysis on a regular basis, and software labs were set up for students who had not grasped the fundamentals of a unit.

“It was tough that first year or two,” admitted Griffin. “We were at a point that something absolutely had to be done.”

Thanks to the hard work of everyone involved, “we are at a point that we need to reflect and let the community know the success that we’ve had,” he continued. “One thing I hope parents see is that their children are better prepared.”

Because Demopolis has “excellent sales tax receipts,” Griffin said, he sees the $60,000 paid to STI each year as “investing this back in our children.”

“I was met with some resistance at times,” he continued. “But at the end of the day, you can’t let anything stand between teaching and learning.”

Griffin also commented on the recent results of the National Assessment of Educational Programs (NAEP), the test that measures how Alabama children fare against those across the country and how American children compare to those in other countries.

In the latest exam Alabama ranked 50 out of 52 states, the District of Columbus and Department of Defense schools. Demopolis schools were not part of that testing, but they have been randomly selected to participate in the NAEP exam next spring.

In the same ARMT test in 2013, Marengo County Schools ranked 30th, and Linden City Schools ranked 117th out of 134 school districts.