About 4 percent weren't tested. About 1 percent weren't tested. Percentages may not add up to 100 percent because of rounding. The zero scores of students not tested, who include some special education students and students who withdrew before completing the test, are used in calculating the percentages. Third-grade scores are important because state law requires schools to write individual literacy plans for students who aren't proficient.
Students stay on the plans until they can demonstrate they're reading at grade level.
But third-grade is only the first round of test scores scheduled for release this year. The report cards are part of Owens' school reform efforts and are required by Senate Bill 186, signed into law last year. Education officials often caution parents to consider scores as just one piece in the school-evaluation pie. When the 32 students not tested at Creekside because they're recent arrivals from another country are taken out, for example, the school's average score rises to 72 percent proficient or above. Students speak 24 languages.