Schools
MCA-III: 5th-6th Grade Math Scores in Dist. 197 Fall Below State Average
The Department of Education released reading and math test results for the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments Tuesday.
Math scores for fifth and sixth grade students in the are well below the state average, according to Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment (MCA) results released this morning by the Minnesota Department of Education.
District 197 fifth-graders who took the math test in 2011 ranked in the 24th percentile state-wide, with only 39 percent meeting standard compared with 54 percent across the state.
District sixth-graders showed a slight improvement; 44 percent met standard compared with 50 percent state-wide.
Math scores dropping between fourth and fifth grade is a statewide trend.
“It reflects more rigorous content and tougher assessment,” said Charlene Briner, the Department of Education's communications director. “Fifth grade is when students start entry-level concepts in geometry and learn about mean, median and mode.”
But in District 197, the fourth-grade/fifth-grade divide was especially pronounced. The percentage of fifth-graders who failed to meet standard was more than twice that of fourth-graders.
This precipitous change is causing district officials to go back and study the classroom curriculum.
“We’re clearly not pleased with our results in fifth grade,” said Susan Brott, the district’s communications director. “We need to dig into the data and find out what specific strands of the test are not being addressed.”
The test breaks down results by differentiating student skills into four areas: number sense; patterns, functions and algebra; data, statistics and probability; and spatial sense, geometry and measurement.
Steve Goldade, the principal of Mendota Elementary, said that the drop-off in test results may be partially due to the fact that elementary school ends after fourth grade in the district.
“Typically, what we’ve talked a lot about in the past is that lower test scores tend to occur after any transition year,” he said.
Brott agreed with this assessment.
“If you look historically at the trend data for test scores, middle school usually drops off,” she said.
District officials emphasized that one test just provides a snapshot of student achievement and that test results are most useful when they are examined at the micro level, to show teachers in which academic areas individual students need the most help.
Robin Rainford, the District 197 school board chair, said she likes to think of test results as “part of the dashboard.”
“As our kids do more online testing throughout the year, you can be more precise in helping the kids,” she said. “You can, for example, look at a particular math skill such as numerators and denominators and see what needs to be improved.”
Math
Find out what's happening in Mendota Heightswith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Find out what's happening in Mendota Heightswith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Grade
State-wide percentile of average test score
% district tests meet standard
% state tests meet standard
3
47
71.2
70.2
4
50
70.2
67.2
5
24
39.3
53.6
6
29
44.1
50.3
7
28
44.3
51.7
8
37
45.8
53.3
11
50
49.2
48.6
Reading
Grade
Percentile
% district tests meet standard
% state tests meet standard
3
54
77.8
78.5
4
50
75.9
75.1
5
48
71.9
80.3
6
53
71.2
75.1
7
52
65.7
69.6
8
42
66.3
68.1
10
47
73.5
75.3