Newton County School System students scored above the state average in 10 of the 30 content areas on the 2013 Criterion Referenced Competency Tests, and performed below the state average in the other 20 content areas. Overall, students in Georgia’s elementary and middle schools improved performance on the majority of the CRCT taken this year. NCSS students outperformed the state in third-grade English/language arts (NCSS 88.5, state 88.1); in fourth-grade reading (NCSS 92.9, state 92.5), math (NCSS 84.5, state 84.3), science (NCSS 84.3, state 82.7), social studies (NCSS 81.7, state 81.3) and