Editor’s Note: This is the final installment of a four-part series on Spanish Fort schools’ test scores. Search our archives online at www.baldwincountynow.com for past reports.

SPANISH FORT, Ala. — If results from the most recent Alabama High School Graduation Exam are any indication, the mind behind the cure for cancer or next surgeon general could well hail from Spanish Fort.

Ninety-four percent of Spanish Fort High School students completing the most recent graduation exam testing passed the biology component, compared with 85 percent in math, 76 percent in reading, 73 percent in language and 72 percent in social studies.

“The rate of 94 percent for biology is incredible, and if it’s not the best in the county, it’s got to be one of them,” Principal Beverly Spondike said, adding she is “very, very pleased” with the overall results.

“When you look at all of the scores being above 70 percent, it’s definitely a reflection of how hard the students have worked and the outstanding jobs our teachers have done in the classroom,” she said.

Of course, success doesn’t happen in a vacuum, and without some aggressive intervention activities to help struggling students address deficiencies in their skill levels, Spondike said the scores might have looked less impressive.

Specifically, SFHS provides year-round, teacher-led tutoring in all core areas both before and after school as well as a preparation assistance class designed specifically to address the graduation exam.

“We have online sources that parents and students may access from home for remediation; a mentoring program with teachers and administrators to offer support, encouragement and motivation, so students are focused; and professional development is provided for faculty and staff to analyze data and explore new methods of interventions and remediation,” Spondike said.

The interventions, she said, have become highly effective in targeting problem areas and boosting confidence.

“Sometimes all they need is one-on-one time that allows them to ask questions and remediate certain skills in certain specific areas that a larger classroom doesn’t allow,” she said.

The state Board of Education announced last week, however, that Alabama’s student testing plan will be overhauled over the next few years, ultimately phasing out the graduation exam in its current form.

End-of-course tests will replace the current format, and state Superintendent of Education Joe Morton stated when announcing the overhaul that the changes will not only increase instruction time by reducing the number of testing days required but also provide more thorough assessments of student achievement throughout the process.

Spondike said details regarding the overhaul are limited at this time, but it is her understanding that end-of-course tests should “allow for greater retention of knowledge for that specific subject area.”

The changes will be phased in over the next two years, so that students entering their freshman year of high school in 2011 will be the first to take only end-of-course tests.

“When we receive the specific format and content area to be tested, we will make the necessary adjustments so that our students will successfully complete the exams.

“Of course, tutoring, mentoring and motivation will continue to be implemented,” Spondike said.