State Test Scores Show Little Improvement

With the final bells having sounded in Lakeville's schools, students and their aren't the only ones looking over report cards.

In late May, the Minnesota Department of Education released the 2011 statewide Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment (MCA) scores for 10th grade reading and 11th grade math, as well as the results of the Graduation-Required Assessments for Diploma (GRAD), which is embedded within the Math and Reading MCAs.

While Lakeville can expect local results later this summer, but the story for the state is a mixed bag.

The number of students who tested proficient on the MCA exams grew marginally this year, while those who tested proficient on the GRAD remained the same. According to the announced results, student proficiency in Grade 11 MCA Math increased six percentage points over the last year to 49 percent and Grade 10 MCA Reading remained unchanged at 75 percent.

However, significant achievement gaps remain between the state’s white students and students of color. For example, only 17 percent of African American students, 23 percent of Hispanic students, and 43 percent of Asian students were proficient in the MCA Math assessment compared to 56 percent of  white students. For reading, 83 percent of white students tested proficient on the statewide 10th grade reading test, while only 62 percent of Asian students, 54 percent of Hispanic students and 49 percent of black students received passing marks.

“The bad news is that we are still seeing significant gaps between our white students compared to our students of color and poor kids,” Education Commissioner Brenda Cassellius wrote in a press release. “It’s hard to cheer when only half of kids are scoring proficient in math, and only 17 percent of black kids are scoring proficient, despite a four percentage point gain.”

Statewide GRAD results were not much different. Though 79 percent of students state wide passed the 10th Grade Reading Graduation Requirement on the first try (a one percent increase over last year), only 54 percent of African American students, 59 percent of Hispanic students and 67 percent of Asian students met the graduation requirement on their first try. Comparatively, 84 percent of white student met their requirement on the first try.

For the 9th Grade Writing Graduation requirement, the state saw a one percent decrease in students meeting the requirement on their first try to 89 percent overall. Though, 93 percent of white students met the requirement on their first try, only 75 percent of African Americans, 77 percent of Hispanic students and 87 percent of Asian students did the same.

Numbers were even more dismal in math with 59 percent meeting the requirement on the first try overall, but only 24 percent of African Americans, 32 percent of Hispanic students and 53 percent of Asian Students passing on their first try. White students met the requirement at 67 percent.

 Cassellius also expressed disappointment over the statewide math scores.

“When fewer than half of our students are proficient on math standards that have been in place since 2003, we need to be doing something different,” she wrote.

MCA results for individual districts and school facilities won’t be released until August, according to the Minnesota Department of Education.  Under the federal No Child Left Behind Act, the MCA scores are used to determine whether a school has made “Adequate Yearly Progress” (AYP).

If districts and schools receiving Title I funding fail to meet AYP goals for two or more consecutive years, they are classified as “in need of improvement” and face a battery of potential consequences. Corrective action may include a complete restructuring of the school, the replacement of school staff, converting the school into a charter, or the implementation of a new curriculum.

Results for individual schools and districts will be released in August.