Test results improve for schools in southwest Minnesota

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ST. PAUL — Standardized test results improved slightly for southwest Minnesota schools, with most scoring slightly better in reading and math than they did in 2007.

Scores on the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments II (MCA-II) scores determine whether schools make Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) as defined by the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

“Improvement’s good, but I think overall, we have some work to do … and of course, like anybody else, we don’t want to be on the (failed to make) AYP list at all,” said John Landgaard, superintendent of District 518.

Schools have not yet been informed whether they made AYP, but could potentially face sanctions if they did not meet requirements.

The MCA-II tests are taken by students across the state in order to test proficiency in math, reading and science.

Students take the reading tests in third through eighth grades, and 10th grade, and the math tests in third through eighth grades and grade 11. Science tests were taken for the first time in the spring by fifth and eighth grades and high school, and results are still pending from the Minnesota Department of Education.

Statewide, students did better in reading than in math, with 70.7 percent of students passing the reading tests, up from 68.2 percent in 2007. In math, 62 percent of students passed the test, up from 60.6 percent the previous year.

Windom fared best of southwest Minnesota schools on the reading test in 2008, with a 79.8 percent passage rate, followed by Luverne with a 79.4 percent and Pipestone Area and Hills-Beaver Creek with 78.6 percent apiece.

Tags: news, education, standardized, test, results, mcaii, worthington, district518