Home > News & Events > 2008 News	Print View

Minnesota students scored slightly higher on statewide achievement exams this year, but nearly two-thirds of high school juniors still failed to meet state math standards.

That's according to math and reading scores released today by the state Department of Education. The Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments were given to about 556,000 students in grades three through eight, 10 and 11.

The state uses the tests to measure students' progress toward proficiency in reading and math, as required by the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

"Overall, we're seeing increases, so that's good. But I'm not totally satisfied," Minnesota Education Commissioner Alice Seagren said. "We have to push harder, especially in math."

The biggest gains were in 10th-grade reading scores. Seventy-one percent of sophomores were proficient in reading, a 9-percentage-point increase from last year.

State education officials credit the increase to the new reading graduation test embedded in the MCAs.

"It's a strong incentive to take the test seriously," Seagren said.

Students in the class of 2010 will be the first who have to pass the reading test before they get diplomas.

Seagren and other state officials hope to see significant increases in 11th-grade math scores when the graduation math test is embedded in the MCAs next year, but other educators are skeptical.

About 50 percent of Stillwater juniors met state standards in math, one of the highest proportions in the east metro and much higher than the statewide average of 35 percent. Superintendent Keith Ryskoski said next year's 11th-graders might perform better on the math test, but it's not going to be the 65-percentage-point increase needed.

And he worries that once the results come out next summer, schools will be scrambling.

"Basically, we're going to say to most of our incoming seniors, 'OK, we have nine months to get you proficient so you can graduate,' " Ryskoski said. "That's not a lot of time."

Seagren said one good thing about the new math test is that the retake is computerized. Once students have the remediation they need, they can retake the test as many times as they want.

Today's results aren't the end of the 2008 testing cycle.

The number of schools on the state's watch list — schools where students failed to meet reading and math standards — will increase when the new version is released in August, education officials warn.

Schools also can make the watch list for problems with attendance, graduation rates and test participation. Performance targets also are set for different subgroups, including racial groups, English-language learners and special education students.

Last year, 729 of 1,918 schools fell short of reading and math standards. That was up from 483 in 2006.

State science exam results will be released in August as well. This year, for the first time, students in grades five and eight (and once in high school) took the online test.

About 185,000 students took the science exam this spring. Schools are not judged on these scores.

Megan Boldt can be reached at 651-228-5495.

See detailed test results

http://www.twincities.com/education/ci_9738797