Test scores are down in Hamilton County schools and the district's graduation rate continued a three-year decline, according to the state's annual Report Card released Tuesday.

Math and reading scores in elementary and middle schools went down 1 percentage point each. In 2008, 90 percent of students were proficient or advanced in math. In 2009, 89 percent were proficient or advanced. Reading scores were 91 percent and 90 percent for those years.

The district's graduation rate now is at 70.9 percent.

"What you see today, in some cases, will cause us heartburn," Schools Superintendent Jim Scales said during a news conference Tuesday at Ganns Middle Valley Elementary School. "The graduation rate is eating us. It's really tying us down."

Despite the slipping graduation rate, Dr. Scales said high schools did "reasonably well" on this year's report card.

In high school, 89 percent of students are proficient or advanced in math, compared with 85 percent last year. Ninety-six percent are proficient or advanced in reading, up from 93 percent.

The report card measures achievement on the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program tests, as well as Gateway exams. The results are used to gauge schools' and school districts' progress under the federal No Child Left Behind law.

Overall in K-8 achievement, Hamilton County scored straight C's. Although students scored A's, B's and C's last year, the two years cannot be accurately compared because state education officials changed the testing baseline this year.

In 1998, the baseline was set from actual student scores across the state, and officials updated that number in 2003. But because state officials have updated the baseline again, it no longer is accurate to compare current student achievement and academic gains to those made by students six years ago, they said.

Chances are the new baseline will tend to make schools' and school systems' letter grades lower than in previous years -- essentially, it's harder to earn a C this year than it was last year, officials said.

The statewide average shows B's across the board in math, reading, science and social studies, and Education Commissioner Tim Webb said this year's report card is more accurate than in the past.

"The scores that (parents) see on the current year report card more realistically compare where students really are in their progress," Dr. Webb said.

Connie Smith, assistant commissioner for the Division of Accountability, Teaching and Learning, touted the state's graduation rate. It has increased or held steady for three years and now sits at 82.2 percent, she said.

She said individual schools' graduation rates will affect the district average. For instance, the rate at Howard School of Academics and Technology, although it has increased significantly in the past few years, is 56.5 percent.

"You fix the graduation rate at the school level," she said.

Tuesday's news conference was held at Ganns Middle Valley because it was one of three district elementary schools to receive straight A's in value-added scores, which measure academic gains from one year to the next.

Despite decreases in math and reading proficiency, principal Karen Hollis said the value-added scores show something is going right in her classrooms.

"Obviously I'd like to have A's in everything ... but we're teaching to the highest student, and everything will come up," she said.

Dr. Scales said having more resources is one way to improve achievement.

"Principals and teachers are doing a good job, but we can't do a better job with less," he said. "We need to dig down in our county and make sure we fund education. We've cut down through the muscle and we're at the bone."

County Commissioner and Education Committee Chairman Warren Mackey said the report card scores reveal problems in the school system, but he doesn't believe funding is the issue.

AROUND THE REGION

Southeast Tennessee school officials saw mixed results in the report card.

Cleveland Schools spokesman Chuck Rockholt touted the system's A in math and a 2009 graduation rate that nearly met the state's goal of 90 percent.

Cleveland High School's graduation rate jumped to 89.3 in 2009, records show. The 7.5-point increase "brings Cleveland High School to where it really should be," Mr. Rockholt said.

A value-added score of B in math and social studies, considering new grading calculations in which C is the average, show the system is "doing a pretty good job of educating kids," he said.

Students in Bradley and Marion counties matched the state's average of B in achievement.

Staff Photo by Lesley Onstott First-grade students Owen Johnston, left, Levi Baker and Katie Sullivan work together to answer a question posed by their teacher Theresa Reed Tuesday at Ganns Middle Valley Elementary. The school was chosen to host a news conference about Hamilton County Board of Education report card results.

Bradley County Schools Director Johnny McDaniel said he was glad to see the system matched state achievement scores and exceeded the state average graduation rate. The district's 87.7 percent graduation rate is up five points from 2008, he said.

Bradley's D in academic growth was expected, Mr. McDaniel said.

"Our schools, like most in Tennessee, reflect lower (value-added) scores this year as our students were already achieving at a high proficiency rate," Mr. McDaniel said.

Bradley has hired a research analyst to work with teachers on test data to improve achievement, and new academies will prepare students to advance, he said.

Continuing improvement can only happen if schools are well funded, he said.

"Our goal is for them to be at the top, which comes with a price," he said.

Marion County Curriculum Director Johnny Grimes said there are some concerns in social studies and science in elementary and middle schools, and in ACT scores in high schools.

"We're putting an emphasis on reading," he said, since good readers perform better in other subjects.

Otherwise, "we're pretty well pleased with our scores," he said.

Sequatchie County continues to struggle in math, reading and social studies, according to its report card, but the system matched the state's B in science.

Schools Director Johnny Cordell said high turnover among math teachers and limited resources and funding make it hard for Sequatchie to continually improve.

"In high school, the math improved but we're still not meeting our benchmarks," Mr. Cordell said.

He said a large number of transient students probably caused the graduation rate to fall to 79.9 percent from 83.3 percent in 2008. A small correction should boost that number to almost 83 percent when it's figured into the three-year average, he said.

"Overall, we have more positives than negatives," he said. "We'll just keep working at it."