ST. PAUL
They didn’t jump dramatically nor did they fall
precipitously. So, “steady” became the watchword as the Department of
Education put out the latest batch of student test scores Sunday.
Compared to last year, math scores climbed a tad and the
percentage of students seen as proficient for their age in reading dipped
slightly. State officials chalked both results up to changes in testing
procedures while they bemoaned the mostly flat figures.
“We’re not satisfied,” Minnesota
schools chief Alice Seagren said. “I’m certainly not satisfied as the
commissioner of education.”
School leaders carefully examine the Minnesota Comprehensive
Assessment II results and use them as a tool in shaping curriculum changes. But
the data is also the main instrument in another important process: determining
which schools are living up to expectations of the federal No Child Left Behind
Law.
About 400,000 elementary, middle and high school students
took the tests this spring.
Students with limited English skills were able to take an
alternative math test for the first time, but they weren’t given that option in
reading as they were previously. Children with severe learning disabilities
were given different exams for both subjects. Those moves were enough to push
the proficiency averages up in math and down in reading, Seagren said.
