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District 88 students performing above state average

By RACHEL WEDDIG

Journal Staff Writer

NEW ULM -- District 88 third-graders and fifth-graders are working above their grade level and performing above the state average, according to recent test results.

The test results of the Third and Fifth Grade Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment tests were released this week by the Minnesota Department of Children, Families and Learning (CFL). The test was given in March 2001 to analyze if students in grades 3 and 5 are performing superior, above average, average or below average for their grade level in reading and math. Fifth-graders are also tested in writing.

Most students are in the Level 2 category, which means they are performing at or near their grade level.

Level 1 means students have gaps in the knowledge and skills necessary for satisfactory work. Level 3 means students are working above their grade level. Level 4 means students demonstrate superior performance, well beyond what is expected at the grade level.

Overall the test scores for public schools improved in reading, math and writing, according to the CFL. The most striking improvements came for fifth-graders in writing, where students scoring in Level 3 increased from 38 percent last year to 52 percent this year, and in reading, where students in Level 4 went up to 24 percent from 16 percent last year.

District 88 students did well on the tests, and almost all students continue to perform at or above their grade level.

For third-graders, 58 percent were above grade level in reading and 92 percent were at or above grade level. Fourteen percent of the students were at Level 4 in reading.

Fifty-five percent of third-graders were above grade level in math and 94 percent were at or above grade level.

Seventy-six percent of fifth-graders were above grade level in reading and 95 percent were at or above grade level. Twenty-six percent of the students were at Level 4 in reading.

Fifty-three percent were above grade level in math and 95 percent were at or above grade level.

Sixty-five percent were above grade level in writing and 99 percent were at or above grade level.

Improvement in test results pleased District 88 Curriculum Director Bill Sprung.

"I'm pleased to see we are continuing to improve our test results each year," Sprung said. "The number of students in the lower levels is continuing to drop."

A major change Sprung pointed out was in the Level 1, third-grade reading tests. In the first year the test was given in 1998, 18 students were in the Level 1 category, compared to only six now.

The same holds true for the fifth-graders. In 1998, 18 fifth-graders were at Level 1 in reading, compared to only five now.

The elementary schools have standard reading, writing and math classes in the curriculum. Sprung feels the improved test scores are a direct result of the teachers' hard work.

"The entire elementary staff has worked hard to integrate standards into their curriculum and prepare students for the next step," Sprung said.

Over the last four years Sprung said the elementary school has instituted a reader intervention program for students in first and second grade. He feels this program has also accounted for the higher test scores. Sprung said the test scores are encouraging because 12 percent of the students receive some kind of special education services.

Superintendent Harold Remme also liked the test results.

"The teachers are working with the kids in improving their skills, but it's a team effort," Remme said.

On the reading test, students read poems, recipes and short stories and then answered questions about the author's main ideas or purposes. The math test used story problems to see if students could apply their knowledge on space, shapes, chance and other numbers concepts. The fifth-grade writing test involved a composition on a snowy day, a visit to a strange place and ways to solve a playground problem.

Nicollet Superintendent John Hornung was pleased with Nicollet's test results. Nicollet's fifth-grade test results found 86 percent of the students were at or above their grade level in reading and 95 percent were at or above their grade level in writing.

For third grade, 95 percent of the students were at or above their grade level in math and 95 percent were at or above grade level in reading.

"We are very pleased with the test results," Hornung said. "Anytime you have students in the Level 4 category, you know you must be doing something right."