Homewood schools see growth in English, math proficiency and ACT scores

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Homewood City Schools, like many school systems across the state, saw an increase in English language arts proficiency ratings in grades 3-8 from the 2024 Alabama Comprehensive Assessment Program.

Coming in at a score of 81.2% proficiency, Homewood grew almost 3 percentage points from 2023’s proficiency rate of 78.4%. Alabama’s ELA proficiency rate for grades 3-8 for 2024 was 56%, an increase from 51.9% in 2023. 

The ACAP report noted the biggest spike came from third grade scores and attributed the growth to the full implementation of the Literacy Act passed in 2019. Homewood’s third grade ELA proficiency jumped from 72.5% in 2023 to 83.9% in 2024. The state rate for third grade sits at 62%. 

“Homewood has been fortunate to have excellent teachers and resources, resulting in high reading proficiency even before the Alabama Literacy Act,” Superintendent Justin Hefner said. “However, the act has fostered greater intentionality among teachers and administrators, prompting a focus on professional learning in the science of reading, best practices and data analysis.

This has led to improved interventions, collaboration and, ultimately, more consistent and effective reading instruction across the district.”

Hefner says that intentionality has allowed teachers more opportunities to build on their strengths, and he noted that the system’s reading coaches have played a key role in supporting teachers throughout the process.

While the ACAP emphasized the improvement of English scores across the state, especially in third grade, older students also made leaps in reading achievements.

Homewood High School students improved almost a full point in the reading section of the ACT, raising 2022’s average reading score of 23.66 to 24.35 in 2023. Homewood’s composite average ACT score for 2023 was 23.48, an increase from 22.66 the year prior. The highest possible score is 36.

“The rise in our high school ACT scores is a testament to years of dedicated effort from all corners of our community,” HCS Director of Instruction Cristy York said. “Our students’ commitment to learning, combined with the hard work of our teachers, staff, parents and the support of the wider Homewood community, has created an environment where success thrives. This achievement is a shared victory and reflects our collective investment in the future.”

The state of Alabama’s average ACT score is 17.72 for 2023, a slight increase from the previous year’s score of 17.69. While Homewood is well above the state average, York said that doesn’t stop them from looking for improvement.

“The district is committed to hiring and retaining excellent teachers, providing them with ongoing support for professional growth through learning opportunities and time for collaboration. We strive for high expectations for all students, while regularly evaluating progress and identifying areas for improvement,” she said. “We offer a range of rigorous courses and continue to expand opportunities for enrichment, diverse course offerings and support for all students. With a comprehensive K-12 approach, we recognize that ACT success in 11th grade is built upon a strong foundation of skills and knowledge developed throughout a student’s education.”

ACT Prep teacher Holly Drake agreed with York, pointing to Homewood’s strong curriculum as a factor in higher ACT scores.

“I feel like our level of rigor at Homewood is above average,” Drake said. “The best thing for ACT prep is to take challenging courses and teachers who are challenging their students in all of the areas. So you know, if you’ve taken even just regular math classes all the way through, you should be prepared for the Math ACT. Our English classes do a great job of preparing our students for understanding punctuation and writing and just being ready for the ACT.”

Drake notes that course selection is something that can help a student receive a standout score, becoming familiar with working at a higher level through advanced and AP classes. On top of challenging classes, Drake says the high school’s ACT prep classes can be helpful. They mostly use Kaplan materials to help prepare students for the exam.

“Our goal is to teach strategies to help them understand the types of questions that are going to be asked and understand timing and how to manage their time on the test,” she said. “Many of the questions, when they read them, they know how to answer them. So our goal is to help kids know what to do when they get stuck, how to process and work through a question, how to get started on a math question, things like that. How to work through and eliminate obvious answer choices that need to go away so that they can get down to maybe a 50/50 chance. So working mainly through strategies to help them not only get them right, but to know what to do when they are stumped.”

Drake recognizes that not all students have the time in their schedules to take her class, but she recommends taking advantage of the plethora of outside resources and finding one that works for them.

Overall, Homewood is seeing an upward trend in standardized scoring results, something Hefner attributes to the hard work put in by both students and teachers.

“I’m incredibly proud of the progress our students are making in both growth and achievement,” Hefner said. “Their success is a testament to their commitment and hard work, laying a strong foundation for their academic careers. Our teachers do an outstanding job helping students maximize their potential, and I couldn’t be prouder or more impressed with all they do for our students.”

Statewide Scores

Overall proficiency

1. Mountain Brook: 83.5%

2. Vestavia Hills: 79.5%

3. Saraland: 77.3%

4. Orange Beach: 76.0%

5. Cullman: 72.9%

6. Homewood: 72.6%

7. Arab: 70.3%

8. Hoover: 70.2%

9. Trussville: 69.8%

10. Piedmont: 69.4%

English proficiency

1. Mountain Brook: 88.6%

2. Vestavia Hills: 87.8%

3. Saraland: 84.9%

4. Cullman: 81.9%

5. Homewood: 81.2%

6. Orange Beach: 80.7%

7. Piedmont: 80.0%

8. Trussville: 79.4%

9. Hoover: 79.0%

10. Madison: 78.1%

Math proficiency

1. Mountain Brook: 78.2%

2. Vestavia Hills: 70.8%

3. Saraland: 69.2%

4. Orange Beach: 68.9%

5. Arab: 66.7%

6. Homewood: 64.6%

7. Piedmont: 64.4%

8. Cullman: 63.0%

9. Hoover: 62.1%

10. Muscle Shoals: 61.8%

Science proficiency

1. Mountain Brook: 84.0%

2. Orange Beach: 82.0%

3. Vestavia Hills: 80.5%

4. Saraland: 78.2%

5. Cullman: 75.7%

6. Hartselle: 75.0%

7. Homewood: 70.6%

8. Andalusia: 68.1%

9. Hoover: 67.8%

10. Trussville: 67.3%

SOURCE: Public Affairs Research Council of Alabama