Hoover students 'leading the pack' in test score growth among comparable districts, official says

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Students in Hoover public schools are “leading the pack” in terms of growth in performance on state English, math and science assessments since the COVID-19 pandemic, when looking at comparable school districts, the district’s chief learning officer told the Hoover school board Tuesday night.

However, Hoover students still lag behind the neighboring school districts of Mountain Brook, Vestavia Hills, Homewood and Trussville in the percentage of students who are proficient in most of those subjects, according to results from spring tests released by the Alabama Department of Education.

So while Hoover students are recovering from the pandemic more quickly, they’re still not as proficient in English, math and science, the test scores indicate.

For the second straight year, Hoover students showed gains in all three subjects. The percentage of Hoover students proficient in English increased from 66% in spring 2021 to 70% in spring 2022 and 73% in spring 2023. Meanwhile, the percentage of Hoover students proficient in math increased from 45% in spring 2021 to 56% in spring 2022 and 59% in spring 2023, and the percentage of Hoover students proficient in science climbed from 55% in spring 2021 to 60% in spring 2022 and 61% in spring 2023.

Those results come from the Alabama Comprehensive Assessment Program tests for students in grades 3-8 and 11th graders’ scores on the English, math and science portions of the ACT college entrance exam.

“Our achievement data continues to trend upward,” Chief Learning Officer Chris Robbins said. “In Hoover City Schools, we continue to track in the right direction in all areas. … I’m really excited about what that means for our kids, for our teachers, for our school leaders.”

Looking statewide, Hoover students remained in the top 10 school districts with their scores in English, math and science, ranking eighth in English and math and 10th in science.

But Hoover’s 73.4% proficiency rate in English compares to 86.7% in Mountain Brook, 83.4% in Vestavia Hills, 77% in Homewood and 75.4% in Trussville. In math, Hoover’s 59.4% proficiency rate compares to 78.6% in Mountain Brook, 68.1% in Vestavia Hills, 62.9% in Homewood and 58.7% in Trussville. In science, Hoover’s 61% proficiency rate compares to 82.6% in Mountain Brook, 78.6% in Vestavia Hills, 71.3% in Homewood and 67.9% in Trussville.

Looking across the Hoover district, all schools showed gains in English except Riverchase Elementary, where the percentage of students proficient in English fell from 75% to 71%. In math, all schools showed gains except Hoover High, which had a 2 percentage point decline in proficiency, and Green Valley and Riverchase elementary schools, which had a 1 percentage point decline in proficiency.

In science, six school zones showed declines. Science proficiency rates fell 19 percentage points at Shades Mountain Elementary, 10 percentage points at Greystone Elementary, 8 percentage points at Riverchase Elementary, 5 percentage points at Hoover High, 4 percentage points at Green Valley and 2 percentage points in the South Shades Crest Elementary/Brock’s Gap Intermediate School zone.

The highest gains in English were at Deer Valley Elementary and Spain Park High (7 percentage points) and Trace Crossings Elementary and Bumpus Middle (6 percentage points). The highest gains in math were at Trace Crossings and Spain Park (9 percentage points) and Shades Mountain (8 percentage points). In science, the greatest gains were at Rocky Ridge Elementary and Bumpus Middle (9 percentage points) and Deer Valley (8 percentage points).

The overall highest proficiency rates in English were at Deer Valley (88%), Greystone Elementary (84%) and Bluff Park Elementary (83%), while the overall highest proficiency rates in math were at the same schools — Deer Valley (83%), Greystone (77%) and Bluff Park (76%). The highest proficiency rates in science were at Bumpus Middle (73%), and Deer Valley and Green Valley elementary schools and Berry Middle School (70%).

The overall lowest proficiency rates in English were at Hoover High (52%), Spain Park High (57%) and Green Valley Elementary (61%), while the lowest proficiency rates in math were at Berry (48%) and Simmons Middle and Hoover High (51%). The lowest proficiency rates in science were at Green Valley (35%) and Riverchase and Trace Crossings elementary schools (50%).

For perhaps an easier look, here are charts showing the district’s gains over the past two years and scores for each individual school in each subject.

Robbins said Hoover teachers and school leaders are using this new data to make adjustments to help students to become more proficient and will continue giving assessments to track growth throughout the year. The focus will continue to be on high-quality instruction, teacher development and support, and maintaining high expectations for the growth of all students, he said.

Editor's note: This story was updated at 5:03 p.m. to correct English proficiency scores in Mountain Brook City Schools to be 86.7%