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CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – The State Department of Education released Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP) district scores Wednesday for grades 3-high school.

Clarksville-Montgomery County School System (CMCSS) remained in the ‘Need of Improvement’ category, which reflects scores from the previous year.

These scores from multiple choice tests represent a transition to a revised assessment which combined questions from two different curricula (the Tennessee Diploma Project and Common Core).

Statewide, growth in 3-8 reading dropped slightly, and is an area with continued need for improvement. 70 percent of districts made gains in the majority of high school subjects in 2014.

“Consistent with the state, we saw gains in the high schools. The scores in grades 3-8 reading and math were relatively flat and as a district we did not meet our identified targets; however, there are many celebration points in which there was significant academic improvement,” said Kimmie Sucharski, accountability coordinator for CMCSS.

The state of Tennessee has moved to more rigorous assessments and set a higher expectation for proficiency.

“Parents will see their students experiencing more challenging application of their learning, geared toward mastering the standards rather than just being proficient. This is a positive direction for the district and the state as we are preparing our students to be more globally competitive,” said Schools Director B.J. Worthington.

CMCSS will continue to work toward improvements using the same curriculum.

“Although we did not meet our targets, we have traditionally not scored as well during curriculum and assessment transition years,” said Mary Gist, director of middle schools. “Our summer work has supported teachers in better aligning learning activities to the rigorous curriculum standards and to classroom assessments. Teachers in this district work extremely hard and devote many evening and weekend hours to planning lessons and activities and we appreciate their dedication to their students.”