South Side Elementary School Principal Jim Nixon described the ISTEP+ scores for the various grades in his Noble County school as a zigzag.

He’s right. The passing rate for fourth-graders increased by 20 percentage points over last year in both language arts and math.

On the flip side: third grade, where the passing rate decreased by 20 percentage points in both subjects. Then there’s fifth grade, where the passing rate decreased by 3 percentage points in both subjects.

“It is a puzzle every year,” Nixon said. “We try to be responsive to trends, and yet, sometimes that picture seems to be a zigzag line. Giving a precise meaning to that is hard to do.”

South Side is not alone in the district. Rome City Elementary and Middle School saw double-digit increases and decreases on its ISTEP+ scores.

It was the same with LaOtto Elementary School, which ranged from a 22 percentage-point gain in both language arts and math for fourth-graders to a 10 percentage-point drop for both third and fifth grades.

Educators can’t explain the discrepancies, and other districts statewide saw similar variances. Officials say they will assess their schools’ weaknesses and diagnose problems before students are tested again in the spring.

Principals in the East Noble district, like many across the state, pay attention not only to how grade levels compare year to year – for example, this year’s third grade to last year’s third grade – but to age groups. They study how this year’s fourth-grade scores compared with those same students’ results in third grade last year.

The principals also compare test scores of students who have attended East Noble schools since kindergarten with students who just moved into the district.

“The longer kids are stable in a school setting, the better they perform on standardized tests,” Rome City Principal David Pine said. “(For) those that are (with the district consistently), we usually are pretty pleased with the results that we get from them.”

ksoderlund@jg.net