CANTON — Several Cherokee County schools saw increases in the number of students passing portions of the Criterion Referenced Competency Tests required for grade advancement, according to data released by the school system this week.

The biggest gains came in the math portion of the test, according to the data.

Eighty-four percent of eighth-grade students at Teasley Middle School passed the math portion of the test this year.

That is up from 69 percent in 2010.

Woodstock Middle School saw similar gains, with 86 percent passing the 2011 test. That figure is up from 76 percent in 2010.

Overall, 90 percent of Cherokee eighth graders passed math.

Fifth-grade students also saw increases in math scores.

The biggest increase came from Canton Elementary. In 2010 only 66 percent of test takers passed. That number is up to 90 percent this year.

Another big gain came from Hasty Elementary, with an 80 percent passing rate; that is up from 58 percent of fifth-grade math test takers passing in 2010.

One-hundred percent of fifth-graders passed the math test at Joseph Knox Elementary.

Joseph Knox fifth-graders also had a 100 percent passing rate on the reading portion of the test.

Officials with Cherokee County School System’s office of student assessment could not be reached for comments on the scores due to meetings yesterday.

Third- through eighth-graders are tested in five different subjects: reading, language arts, mathematics, science and social studies.

Results of the state-mandated test are used to help calculate adequate yearly progress as set by the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

However, third-graders are required to pass the reading portion and fifth- and eighth-grade students must pass the reading and math portions to advance to the next grade.

Some schools saw steep gains in the reading portion as well; 94 percent of Canton Elementary School passed that portion. That’s up from 82 percent last year. One-hundred percent of Bascomb Elementary School students passed reading; 99 percent passed the test last year.

Some schools did see slight drops in CRCT scores.

Hasty Elementary saw the number of third-grade students passing the reading test fall from 89 percent in 2010 to 85 percent in 2011.

Woodstock Elementary saw reading scores for fifth graders fall to 92 percent this year from 96 percent in 2010.

Overall, Cherokee County students outperformed many of their peers across the state.

Cherokee County students beat the state average passing rate in all subjects in the CRCT.

The county’s highest scores came in reading, with 98 percent of eighth-grade students passing. 97 percent of third graders passed.

Cherokee’s lowest scores came in the social studies portion. Only 83 percent of fifth- and sixth-grade students passed.