by Dennis Dalman
news@thenewsleaders.com
Many students at Kennedy Community School did not fare so well in the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment test scores, which were released earlier this week.
Statewide, about 52 percent of students who took the MCA met or exceeded state standards, which is an increase of 11 percent from last year. Most St. Joseph students did not meet the state standards. However, on some math tests in some grades, Kennedy students did very well in the percentage who exceeded state standards.
The two school districts that did excel overall in the MCA tests were Sartell-St. Stephen and Sauk Rapids-Rice. Sartell-St. Stephen, especially, did very well, meeting or exceeding state standards by healthy margins.
Other schools in the greater St. Cloud area, including Kennedy Community School, had some isolated successes in some grades, but mostly they failed to make the standards. The students in some schools, in fact, performed so poorly on the tests that as many as 50 to 70 percent of students in some grades failed to meet state standards in one or more of three tested areas: reading, math and science.
Area administrators have expressed deep concern about the test results, which were released earlier this week by the Minnesota Department of Education, which administers the tests. School officials said the test results will cause all schools to re-evaluate how best to improve the scores. This year, the St. Cloud School District School Board agreed to spend several million dollars to help teachers and students achieve up to state standards.
The MCA tests are administered to students in grades 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10 and 11. Not every one of those grade levels takes all three tests. For example, grade 10 took only the reading test this year while grade 11 took only the math test. Both those grades did take the science test. The testing is supposed to gauge how well students are doing in meeting standards for high-school graduation.
There are four results for the MCA tests: not meeting state standards, partially meeting state standards, meeting state standards and exceeding state standards.
The following are the test results for each grade in Kennedy Community School. The numbers listed represent percentages of students who took the tests.
Grade 3, Reading: not meeting standards: 15.4; partially meeting standards: 21.5; meeting standards: 47.7; exceeding standards: 15.4.
Grade 4, Reading: not meeting standards: 19.4; partially meeting standards: 31.9; meeting standards: 29.2; exceeding standards: 19.4.
Grade 5, Reading: not meeting standards: 12.1; partially meeting standards: 34.5; meeting standards: 37.9; exceeding standards: 15.5.
Grade 5, Science: not meeting standards: 23.3; partially meeting standards: 26.7; meeting standards: 33.3; exceeding standards: 16.7.
Grade 6, Reading: not meeting standards: 9; partially meeting standards: 28.4; meeting standards: 43.3; exceeding standards: 19.4.
Grade 7, Reading: not meeting standards: 14.3; partially meeting standards: 30.2; meeting standards: 46; exceeding standards: 9.5.
Grade 8, Reading: not meeting standards: 12.7; partially meeting standards: 22.2; meeting standards: 42.9; exceeding standards: 22.2.
Grade 8, Science: not meeting standards: 24.2; partially meeting standards: 37.8; meeting standards: 31.8; exceeding standards: 6.1.
Grade 3, Math: not meeting standards: 7.6; partially meeting standards: 16.7; meeting standards: 34.8; exceeding standards: 40.9.
Grade 4, Math: not meeting standards: 4.3; partially meeting standards: 17.1; meeting standards: 41.4; exceeding standards: 37.1.
Grade 5, Math: not meeting standards: 21.1; partially meeting standards: 29.8; meeting standards: 35.1; exceeding standards: 14.
Grade 6, Math: not meeting standards: 6.1; partially meeting standards: 27.3; meeting standards: 47; exceeding standards: 19.7.
Grade 7, Math: not meeting standards: 7.9; partially meeting standards: 23.8; meeting standards: 54; exceeding standards: 14.3
Grade 8, Math: not meeting standards: 6.3; partially meeting standards: 19; meeting standards: 33.3; exceeding standards: 41.3
