State test scores improve

for District 88 students

Trend has

persisted over 'a number of years'

By KREMENA TODOROVA

Journal Staff Writer

NEW ULM -- District 88 Superintendent Harold Remme is pleased that local students' math, reading and writing test results have continued their upward trend.

The results of the tests, given to third-graders in math and reading and to fifth-graders in math, reading and writing, were released last Thursday.

The tests are being used, among other things, to determine the list of schools in Minnesota that may not make the grade under the federal "No Child Left Behind" law.

Local test scores have risen persistently over of number of years, Remme pointed out. In addition, the percentage of students passing with higher than just satisfactory scores, has been steadily increasing as well.

Statewide, most tests passage rates also improved from 2002, with only writing results registering a decline.

The way results are read this year is different from former years. Students are being separated into more categories, according to their score levels. Remme says that while the new approach does not influence school passage rates, it gives officials more detail when they interpret the scores.

Remme stressed that with local scores being consistently higher than the average for the state, New Ulm is very unlikely to be judged a failing school. A simulated report released earlier this summer, based on last year's scores, showed the local district passing every requirement of the "No Child Left Behind" law.

"We've continued to improve from one year to the next," said Remme. "This shows that we are on the right track. We are where we want to be, above average."

Remme said that while the school district does not teach to the test, it does make a conscious effort to gear decisions about its curriculum and instructional techniques to state and federal requirements -- which helps students perform well.