State releases latest test scores
Posted: 09/26/08 - 12:40:28 pm CDT
In the coming days, the Enterprise-Journal will examine standardized test scores for five area school districts: McComb, South Pike, North Pike, Amite County and Walthall County.
By Matt Williamson | Enterprise-Journal
The Mississippi Department of Education today officially released school districts’ scores from the first round of revamped and more rigid standardized tests, which were introduced to students last spring.
“We have raised the bar for Mississippi’s children,” said Dr. Hank M. Bounds, state superintendent of education. “We know that they are just as smart as the boys and girls in other states, and we have expectations that reflect our confidence in their abilities.”
Last year, the state introduced a more rigorous test to elementary-level students. The Mississippi Curriculum Test-Second Edition MCT2 for short was given to students in grades 3 through 8 and gauged their performance in language and math.
The MCT2 replaced the Mississippi Curriculum Test, which had been given to students in grades 2 through 8 and tested them in three subjects: reading, language and math. Students now are tested under one exam for reading and language skills.
Other significant testing changes include the Subject Area Test, which measures the performance of high school students in four subjects: Algebra I, U.S. History, Biology I and English II. Tests for history and biology essentially stayed the same in terms of the level of difficulty, but the algebra and English portions of the test were substantially more difficult, said Kris Kaase, deputy superintendent for instructional programs for the Mississippi Department of Education.
Since 2002, results from standardized tests have been used to assign Mississippi schools a rating on a 1-to-5 scale in order to comply with the federal No Child Left Behind Act. The act was intended to have all students testing on the “proficient” level by 2014.
School districts will not be assigned new levels this year because the state is developing a new ratings model, which still must be finalized, Kaase said.
Since the latest round of testing is so different, Kaase said it’s impossible to compare this past school year’s test results with those from previous years.
“You really just can’t. The changes are so significant. ... You really can’t go back and say, Well, this might have equated to something else in the past,’ ” he said.
New accountability levels cannot be given to schools until after 2007-08 test results can be compared to scores from tests that will be taken later this year, Kaase said.
The changes give schools a fresh start and a chance to examine their approach on teaching courses and measuring how well students grasp the curriculum, he said. Succeeding, Kaase said, rests with teachers, schools and students.
“It depends on the adjustments they make,” he said.
The Mississippi Board of Education has its own goals for students: Reducing the dropout rate to 13 percent by 2013.
Reaching the national average on national assessments by 2013.
Ensuring that all students exit third grade reading on grade level by 2020.
Kaase said state education officials have been examining the curriculum and the tests, which they found “were not necessarily in line with curriculum expectations.”
In designing the new tests, education officials examined whether students’ classroom lessons were training them to be test takers and requiring that they only recall the information they learned in class just so they could get through the test, “or are we asking them to go a little bit higher, and not only know those things but ... know how to use those facts as they apply to a certain situation?” Kaase said.
“Why do we want people to be able to complete two-digit multiplication? It’s not so they can do well on a test,” he said.
The MCT2, like its predecessor, gauges students’ performance on four levels: minimal, basic, proficient and advanced.
Minimal students do not demonstrate the mastery of the skills required for success at the next grade. These students require more instruction and remediation.
Basic students demonstrate partial mastery of the skills required for success at the next grade level.
Proficient students demonstrate solid academic performance and mastery of the skills required for success at the next grade. Students who perform at this level are prepared to begin work on even more challenging material that is required at the next grade.
Advanced students perform in a manner beyond that required to be successful at the next grade level.
As school officials, parents and students review this past year’s test results, they could be in for a shock, as some scores are far lower compared to years past.
In fact, in July, education officials released the statewide scores and expressed some disappointment in the results.
Kaase said that was especially true with fourth-graders, 90 percent of whom on the old Mississippi Curriculum Test scored statewide on proficient levels in the 2006-07 school year. Last year, that figure plummeted to 40 percent.
But officials also said in July that the new tests eventually will make Mississippi students more competitive with students from other states.es latest test scores
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Educator wrote on Sep 26, 2008 8:42 PM: