Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment: Reading scores up, some grades at area schools struggle in math

Last spring, area elementary, middle school and high school students took a lineup of exams, one of which was the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment.

The MCA-II exams measure students’ reading and math levels.

For the first time, students in grades 3-8 took the new MCA-III math exam, a revamped test that was offered online and designed from a list of new math standards.

Bemidji School District Director of Curriculum Kathy Palm said low MCA-III math exam scores are likely attributed to students taking the test online for the first time and that the format of the test was changed.

“Our scores for math were not good. We’re looking at them and wondering, ‘What happened?’” she said. “Was it the format of the test? Was it that the kids aren’t prepared?”

Palm said students in the Bemidji School District also take a Measures of Academic Progress test, which they take in order for administration to keep track of their progress throughout their K-12 career.

“When we look at our MAP tests, we were above the norm, so we were expecting good scores,” Palm said. “State math scores really plummeted.”

Traditionally, MCA scores are used to determine whether Minnesota schools make Annual Yearly Progress. Schools that do not make AYP must abide by sanctions set under the federal No Child Left Behind law, which requires that all students be proficient in reading and math by 2014.

This year, however, Minnesota Department of Education Commissioner Brenda Cassellius has requested a waiver from the U.S. Department of Education that would relax sanctions on schools that have not met the NCLB standards.

“That law was supposed to have been revisited in 2007, and (lawmakers) haven’t done it,” Palm said. “They are realizing that 2014 isn’t realistic and that it’s just a very punitive law.”

The public can view the test results online at http://education.state.mn.us/mde/index.html.

Bagley Schools

- Between 63 and 76 percent of students in grades 3, 5, 6, 7 and 10 scored proficient on the reading exam. Thirty-eight percent of eighth-graders scored proficient on the exam.

- Fewer than 33 percent of 11th-graders scored proficient on the MCA-II math exam.

- Between 38 and 49 percent of students in grades 3, 4, 6, 7 and 8 scored proficient on the MCA-III math exam, compared to the 23 percent of fifth-graders who scored proficient on this exam.

Bemidji Schools

- Between 70 and 81 percent of students in grades 3-8 and 10 scored proficient on the state reading exam.

- More than 80 percent of all fifth-graders in the district scored proficient on this exam, but fewer than 46 percent of these same students scored proficient on the MCA-III math exam.

- Almost 64 percent of eighth-graders scored proficient on the MCA-III test.

- Roughly 46 percent of 11th-graders scored proficient on the MCA-II math test.

Blackduck Schools

- More than 80 percent of students in grades 3-7 scored proficient on the reading exam. Almost 91 percent of sixth-graders scored proficient on this exam.

- Forty percent of 11th-graders scored proficient on the math exam.

- Forty-nine percent of eighth-graders scored proficient on the MCA-III math exam, compared to the 86 percent of third-graders that scored proficient on the exam.

Cass Lake-Bena

- Between 46 and 56 percent of students in grades 3-8 and 10 scored proficient on the reading exam.

- Twenty-five percent of 11th-graders met the state reading standards on the MCA-II exam.

- Fifty-three percent of fourth-graders scored proficient on the MCA-III exam. Fewer than 33 percent of students in grades 6, 7 and 8 scored proficient on this exam.

Clearbrook-Gonvick

- More than half of students in grades 3-8 and 10 scored proficient on the reading exam. Roughly 80 percent of fifth-graders scored proficient on this exam.

- About 19 percent of 11th-graders scored proficient on the MCA-II math exam.

- Between 34 and 39 percent of students in grades 3-8 scored proficient on the MCA-III math exam. Fifty-seven percent of seventh-graders scored proficient on this exam.

Kelliher Schools

- Fifty percent of fourth-graders scored proficient on the reading exam, compared to the 82 percent of fifth-graders who met or exceeded state reading standards.

- Slightly more than 61 percent of 11th-graders scored proficient on the MCA-II math exam.

- Fewer than 56 percent of students in grades 4-8 scored proficient on the MCA-III math exam, compared to the 76 percent of third-graders who met or exceeded the new math standards.

Laporte Schools

- Between 50 and 64 percent of students in grades 3-6 and 8 scored proficient on the reading exam, compared to the 72 percent of 10th-graders who scored proficient on this exam.

- Roughly 45 percent of 11th-graders scored proficient on the MCA-II math exam.

- Sixty-four percent of eighth-graders scored proficient on the MCA-III math exam, compared to the fewer than 19 percent of fifth-graders who scored proficient on this exam.

Nevis Schools

- Between 66 and 81 percent of students in grades 4, 6, 7, 9 and 10 scored proficient on the reading exam.

- Roughly 94 percent of third-graders and 89 percKent of fifth-graders scored proficient on the reading exam.

- Forty-eight percent of 11th-graders scored proficient on the MCA-II math exam.

- Between 51 and 62 percent of students in grades 3, 4, 7 and 8 scored proficient on the MCA-III math exam. About 69 percent of fifth-graders scored proficient on this exam.

Red Lake Schools

- Roughly half of the district’s students in grades 3-5 scored proficient on the reading exam, compared to the fewer than 26 percent of students in grades 6, 7, 8 and 10 who scored proficient on this exam.

- No 11th-graders scored proficient on the MCA-II math exam.

- More than half of the district’s third-graders scored proficient on the MCA-III math exam, compared to the fewer than 6 percent of students in grades 6-8 who scored proficient on this exam.

Schoolcraft L.C.

- More than 90 percent of Schoolcraft Learning Community students in grades 5-8 scored proficient on the reading exam.

- Sixty-three percent of fourth-graders scored proficient on this exam.

- Between 41 and 47 percent of students in grades 4, 5 and 7 scored proficient on the MCA-III math exam. Between 60-68 percent of students in grades 3, 6 and 8 scored proficient on this exam.

TrekNorth School

- Roughly 90 percent of 10th-graders scored proficient on the reading exam.

- Eighty-three percent of seventh-graders and 75 percent of eighth-graders scored proficient on this exam.

- About 41 percent of 11th-graders scored proficient on the MCA-II math exam.

- Forty-eight percent of seventh-graders and 40 percent of eighth-graders scored proficient on the MCA-III math exam.

Voyageurs H.S.

- Roughly 9 percent of 10th-graders scored proficient on the reading exam.

- None of the 14 11th-graders scored proficient on the MCA-II math exam.

Walker-Hack-Akeley

- Slightly more than half of fourth-graders scored proficient on the reading exam, compared to the nearly 80 percent of 10th-graders who scored proficient on this exam.

E Almost 27 percent of 11th-graders scored proficient on the MCA-II math exam.

- Fewer than half of the students in grades 4-8 scored proficient on the MCA-III math exam. Fifty-two percent of third-graders tested proficient on the test.