5. The percent of students in grades four, eight, and ten passing the TAAS writing test will increase from 1996-1997 to 1997-1998 for each group of students as identified below:

Group	Past Performance	Current Objectives
	96-97	97-98
All students	72.3%	75.8%
African American	64.2%	69.4%
Hispanic	72.6%	76.1%
White	85.9%	86.7%
Economically Disadvantaged	71.0%	74.8%

The following table is a summary and comparison of the 1996-1997 and 1997-1998 writing scores as well as the objectives for 1997-1998:

Group	1996-97	1997-98 obj	1997-98 passing	Improvement
All Students	72.3%	75.8%	75.7%	3.4%
African American	64.2%	69.4%	75.5% *	11.3%
Hispanic	72.6%	76.1%	75.2%*	2.6%
White	85.9%	86.7%	85.0%	-.9%
Economically Disadvantaged	71.0%	74.8%	74.8% *	3.8%

^* met or exceeded the objective

Three subgroups of students - African American, Hispanic and Economically Disadvantaged - exceeded the 1997-98 objectives for writing. Even though it was the group with the highest scores, the writing score for White students declined by .09 percent. African American students made significant gains with an increase of 11.3 percent of the students passing the writing test.