Hoover students showed 'astounding' growth in spring 2022 test scores, official says

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Students in Hoover City Schools showed “astounding” growth in their academic test scores this past spring, the system’s chief academic officer shared with the school board Tuesday night.

The percentage of Hoover students at or above grade level increased by 11 percentage points in math, 5 percentage points in science and 4 percentage points in English, Robbins said.

That was more than twice the level of growth than the state average growth rate in each subject area between the spring of 2021 and spring of 2022, he said. Statewide, the gains were 5 percentage points in math, 2 percentage points in science and 2 percentage points in English.

More specifically, the percentage of Hoover students deemed proficient in math grew from 45% in the spring of 2021 to 56% in the spring of 2022, while the proficiency rate in science grew from 55% to 60% and the proficiency rate in English grew from 66% to 70% of students, Robbins said.

Hoover students remain in the top 10 school districts in the state in terms of the percentage of students scoring at or above grade level in English, math and science but lag behind several neighboring school districts with which Hoover officials historically have compared themselves — namely Mountain Brook, Vestavia Hills and Homewood.

For example, Hoover’s proficiency rate of 56% in math compares to proficiency rates of 77% in Mountain Brook, 72% in Vestavia Hills and 59% in Homewood. In science, Hoover’s proficiency rate of 60% compares to 81% in Mountain Brook, 79% in Vestavia Hills and 68% in Homewood. In English, Hoover’s rate of 70% compares to 84% in Mountain Brook, 83% in Vestavia Hills and 75% in Homewood.

The test scores show results of testing of students in grades 3-8 in the Alabama Comprehensive Assessment Program and 11th graders’ scores on the English, math and science portions of the ACT college entrance exam.

The results from the spring of 2022 show that Hoover students are back to proficiency levels reached before the COVID-19 pandemic hit in English and nearly back to pre-pandemic levels in math, Robbins said.

He said he was greatly encouraged by gains made by students in Hoover’s Title 1 schools (which have more students from lower-income families). In particular, there was a cumulative 14% percentage point gain in math in Hoover’s Title 1 schools, he said.

Hoover officials believe the school district’s decision to keep its schools open 180 days last year made an impact on progress.

“Our students had an opportunity to learn from their teachers in a classroom with our students, and our students really persevered,” Robbins said. “And these results are also equally a reflection of the hard work and dedication shown by our teachers, our support staff and our principals.”

Robbins said it’s important that Hoover students sustain the growth they had in the last school year.

“We want to land on a sweet spot of continued, steady growth in English language arts, math and science,” he said.

The district wants to keep students who already are proficient on that same path while at the same time helping bring students up who are in need of support, he said.

School officials have drilled down data all the way down to the classroom level in order to provide support for students and growth opportunities for teachers to make sure that all students in Hoover are growing and learning, Robbins said.

“We want to set high expectations for every single student,” he said. “We have a lot to celebrate. A lot of great things happened for our students and our teachers in Hoover City Schools, but we also have a lot of areas to grow, and we’re not taking our foot oof the gas. We’ve had an amazing start to this school year, and I certainly expect this kind of growth to continue.”

Superintendent Dee Fowler said all the principals are committed to addressing the academic growth needs of students and are collaborating on ways to make that growth happen. “This district will be built on the rock of academics,” he said.

Also on Tuesday night, Natasha Flowers, the district’s new federal programs coordinator, shared results of recently completed surveys of teachers and parents in the system.

Among the findings:

  • 88% of teachers agree that teachers work well together in their schools.
  • 87% of teachers agree that teachers enjoy a sense of belonging in their schools
  • 12% of teachers disagree that teachers have a good working relationship with district staff.
  • 13% of teachers disagree that teachers feel a sense of “esprit de corps or common fellowship.
  • 20% of teachers disagree that teachers have the power to influence decisions in their school.
  • 29% of teachers disagree that morale in their school is high.
  • 94% of parents are satisfied with technology access.
  • 94% of parents see the buildings and grounds as clean and well-maintained.
  • 93% of parents are happy with communication from the superintendent.
  • 92% of parents are happy with communication from the school.
  • 92% of parents are satisfied with school safety and security.
  • 90% of parents are satisfied with the quality of teaching.
  • 88% of parents are happy overall with the education their child is receiving.
  • 87% of parents are satisfied with the leadership of the school system.
  • 86% of parents agree that curriculum is challenging, rigorous and innovative.
  • 85% of parents are satisfied with the variety of electives offered.
  • 83% of parents agree that students are treated fairly with regard to services and resources.
  • 8% of parents disagree that parents are satisfied with the fair treatment of students in disciplinary procedures.
  • 9% of parents disagree that parents are satisfied with opportunities to challenged advanced students.
  • 10% of parents disagree that parents are happy with opportunities for activities, clubs, sports and other extracurricular options.
  • 65% of parents gave an A grade to their child’s school, while 23% gave a B, 7% gave a C, 2% gave a D, 1% gave an F and 2% skipped the question.

In other business Tuesday, the school board also approved a resolution to enter a partnership with the city of Hoover to install artificial turf on 11 fields in the city, including four fields owned by the school board — the varsity baseball and softball fields at both Hoover and Spain Park high schools.

The plan is for the school board to pay for artificial turf on the varsity softball fields and the city to pay for artificial turf on the other nine fields.

School board President Amy Tosney said that she was super excited about the effort and that it will benefit everyone for years to come. Read more about that partnership here.