Cherokee County School District students held on to the high countywide average on the Georgia High School Writing Test.

Out of 1,947 students who took the test for the first time in the spring, 98 percent passed. The same percentage passed the previous school year with 1,906 tests administered.

Students must pass the two-hour test to earn a regular education diploma.

"Written communication is a vital skill in the information age, and we are pleased with the progress being made by our students and teachers in this regard," Cherokee County Superintendent of Schools Dr. Frank Petruzielo said in his memo this week that released the scores. "The district continues to significantly exceed state averages (of 94 percent and maintain an astonishing success rate."

Petruzielo also noted that countywide, there was an 85-percent passage rate of students with disabilities. In comparison, the statewide rate was 62 percent.

School by school, Cherokee High increased its rate to 98 percent from 97, Creekview gained a point to 99 percent from 98, and Polaris Evening School improved to 91 percent from 89..

Woodstock High dipped to 98 percent from the previous perfect 100, while Etowah and Sequoyah both lost a point to 98 percent from 99. CrossRoads High School's average decreased to 91 percent from 94.

Petruzielo said schools are using a "laser-like focus on data-driven instructional planning to improve student achievement."

Six years of student writing scores are in the district's data warehouse available to each student's teacher to plan instruction based on strengths and weaknesses. Portfolios of student writing samples are collected each year and passed to each student's new English language arts teacher for analysis.

The district Educational Programs Department has also enhanced writing instruction for content area teachers other than English and language arts.

"We will continue to work aggressively with all students to achieve success," Petruzielo said.