It won’t be long before school bells begin to ring across the state of Minnesota. While students, teachers and administrators are getting ready for the new school year, the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) is tweaking the final numbers and preparing to release the 2010 Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) report cards. The AYP report will be released in August.
The MDE is in the process of analyzing data from the MCA-II reading and math tests, attendance, the grad writing tests, and graduation rates to determine if individual schools and districts meet their required targets to meet AYP as defined by No Child Left Behind.
According to a news release issued earlier in July by the MDE, Minnesota students are better prepared for career and postsecondary education than they were only a few years ago.
“More students are achieving proficiency and meeting Minnesota’s rigorous Math and Reading requirements,” Minnesota Education Commissioner Alice Seagren said. “We need to continue our efforts to prepare every Minnesota student for success in the 21st century through greater academic rigor.”
In order to receive a diploma from an accredited Minnesota high school, students must meet reading and writing graduation requirements.
The data released by the MDE show that of the estimated 63,000 Minnesota seniors, 97 percent met the writing graduation requirement; 92 percent of Minnesota students met the graduation requirement for reading.
MCA-II results
The Minnesota Academic Standards that measure student performances are gathered through MCA-II tests. The MCA-II tests show what students know and are able to do in a particular grade. Students who meet or exceed standards on the MCA-II are considered proficient.
Since 2007, the percentage of Minnesota 10th graders proficient increased 13 percent in reading to 75 percent in 2010. During the same time, Minnesota 11th graders increased 11 percent in math to 43 percent in 2010.
YME Superintendent Al Stoeckman is currently studying the data on the MCA-II test results in reading and math for students in the district. According to the information released on the MCA-II reading test, of the 463 students tested in reading 56.15 percent were proficient while 43.84 percent were not proficient. Of the 419,900 tested statewide, 72.34 percent were proficient while 27.65 percent were not proficient.
The MCA-II math results show that of the 422 students tested 48.57 were proficient while 51.42 percent were not proficient. Of the 404,866 students tested state wide, 65.89 percent were proficient and 34.10 percent were not proficient.
“We have some work to do,” Stoeckman said as he looked over the results of the MCA-II scores. “The state scores continue to show growth; our scores are not.” He went on to share that scores did improve in elementary math. In 2009, six subgroups, American Indian, Hispanic, White, Limited English Proficiency (LEP), Special Education, and Free and Reduced Price (FRP), were not proficient. “In 2010 only one subgroup was not proficient,” he explained.
Stoeckman credits some of the growth in math scores to the improvement plan that Bret Raney Elementary implemented for students year. He said that the instruction has become more individualized. “Students are being taken at their skill level and go from there.” He went on to share that, as part of the improvement plan, MRVED brought in a trainer to assist teachers in preparing for individualized instruction in math. “There were results; improvement was demonstrated.”
