The state’s school superintendent announced last week that Georgia students made positive gains on the 2010 Georgia High School Writing Test.

Ninety-four percent of all students met or exceeded the standard for the test, a 5-percentage point increase from 2009 scores.

Locally, Dawson County School students scored a 98.1 percent, nearly four points higher than the state’s average.

Georgia law states that writing assessments must be administered to students in grades three, five, eight and 11.

The test results are used to identify students who may need additional instruction in academic content and skills considered essential for a high school diploma.

According to State Superintendent Brad Bryant, “good writing skills are critical to the future success of our students.

“I am very pleased to see this improvement. Our students, teachers and administrators should be very proud of these results,” Bryant said.