Like average state scores, Austin’s eighth-grade reading and mathematics basic skills scores were below 80 percent this year.

Wednesday, April 18, 2001

Like average state scores, Austin’s eighth-grade reading and mathematics basic skills scores were below 80 percent this year. The scores showed improvement over last year, but the Austin Public Schools scores were below the state level.

"It’s not a surprise," Ellis Middle School Principal Jean McDermott said. McDermott said a significant number – possibly one-third – of the students who come to Ellis are functioning below their grade level. Several factors, including the amount of time parents spend reading to their children, preschool training and elementary programs can contribute to the low levels, but McDermott said she really does not have a good explanation for the lower-than-state-average basic skills levels in Austin.

Seventy-six percent of the district’s eighth-graders scored above the scale score of 600 in reading. According to the Children, Families and Learning Web site, "scaled scores are statistical conversions of the number of items correct. This conversion allows for valid comparisons of student performance and ensures consistent, equal passing scores."

The reading exam tested students’ comprehension, ability to identify words and phrases and ability to distinguish between fact and opinion, among other things.

Austin’s reading score is lower than the 79 percent average of 64,000 public and charter school students who took the reading test throughout the state. It is higher, however, than the 70 percent of Austin eighth-graders who passed the test last year, which shows an improvement. Students in private schools throughout the state, who are not required to pass the exams for graduation, did well on the tests; 91 percent of the eighth-graders passed the reading test and 84 percent passed the math exam.

In mathematics, Austin eighth-graders improved over last year as well, but only slightly. The 1999-2000 year found 67 percent of eighth-graders passing the test. This year, 68 percent passed the basic skills math test, which is equivalent to one percentage point or about three additional students passing of the 321 who took the exam. This is below the state average of 72 percent.

In the math exam, students were tested on problem solving, involving fractions, decimals and tables, among other things.

The passing score on the tests reflects the minimum level expected of high school graduates in the state. Currently, students are expected to correctly answer 70 percent of the questions. Starting with the graduating class of 2000, without passing, students are unable to graduate from a public high school in Minnesota.

"The class of 2001 and beyond will be required to answer the equivalent 75 percent of the questions correctly," according to the CFL.

"Starting in 1998, under former Gov. Arne Carlson, the Legislature determined that only scores from the Minnesota Basic Standards Test could be used to meet basic-skills graduation requirements in reading and mathematics," according to the CFL. "In fact, February 1998 was the first year that all students were required to take the Minnesota Basic Standards Tests."

The skills tested are considered to be important for employment, societal functioning and the pursuit of higher education.

While 321 eighth-graders took the math portion of the basic skills test in Austin, three more students – 324 eighth-graders – took the reading exam. Both of these totals can be compared to the 327 enrolled at the time of the exam. One student was listed as absent from the reading exam and five students were absent from the math exam. Three additional students were not tested in reading and six students were not tested in math.

"The category of ‘Students Not Tested’ includes students who became ill during the test, schools or districts using inappropriate testing practices on certain test answer sheets, or test answer sheets that could not be scanned. This number also includes students were exempted from the test or who were marked as absent on test day," according to the CFL Web site.

Eighth-graders throughout Minnesota with a first language other than English showed improvement in both math and reading this year, according to the CFL. In fact, the number of students who passed the reading exam over last year doubled since 1998 and the number who passed the math exam improved by 10 percentage points in 1998.

Of the ninth- to 12th-grade students in Austin who took the reading exam, only 36 percent passed, down significantly from the 62 percent who passed the exam last year. Thirty-three percent of the ninth- through 12th-grade students passed the math exam, compared to the 42 percent who passed it last year.

Additional information on Austin’s placing and other schools throughout the state, as well as explanations of the testing, can be found at the Children, Families and Learning Web site at http://cfl.state.mn.us.

Call Kevira Mertha at 434-2233 or e-mail her at newsroom@austindailyherald.com.