by Mike Knaak
editor@thenewsleaders.com
As students head back to school this week, teachers and administrators received their own report cards on student performance.
The state Department of Education released the latest performance scores based on five indicators – achievement and progress on state reading and math tests over time, progress towards English language proficiency, graduation rates and consistent attendance.
The results recognize top performers as well as highlight areas that need improvement and attention.
For the Sartell-St. Stephen school district there was good news.
Two Sartell schools were recognized for performing with the highest 5 percent of schools in the state in specific categories.
Pine Meadow Elementary School was recognized for overall math progress and for math progress achieved by students receiving free or reduced lunches.
Sartell Middle School was recognized for math progress made by Asian and multiracial student groups and for reading progress made by Hispanic, black and multiracial student groups.
The new accountability system, called North Star, expands accountability from standardized test scores to include more indicators and provides support to help schools improve.
The North Star system includes three main areas: publicly reporting data, recognizing schools for success and identifying schools for support.
School districts receive feedback for the five categories of accountability: academic achievement, academic progress, English language proficiency, attendance rates and graduation rates.
In several categories, the Sartell-St. Stephen district exceeded the state average.
In reading achievement, Sartell students scored 73.10 percent compared with a 59.24 percent statewide average. In math achievement, Sartell students scored 76.08 percent compared with 57.54 percent statewide. Achievement scores are calculated by the number of students that meet or exceed standards divided by the number of all students tested.
Sartell students’ yearly progress in math and reading also exceeded the statewide average. In reading, Sartell scored 2.56 compared with 2.39 statewide and in math, Sartell scored 2.53 compared with 2.13 statewide.
Students attended 91 percent of days compared with 86.27 percent statewide.
Sartell’s four-year graduate rate of 97.91 percent topped the state level of 82.42 percent.
Sartell-St. Stephen fell below the statewide score for English language learners’ growth toward meeting individual performance targets. Sartell scored 52.5 compared with 66.99 across the state.
“We have a tradition of excellence in our school district and the fact that our students continue to perform above state averages is a point of pride. These results provide a snapshot of our curricular program and provide an opportunity for us to review and refine our instructional practices and school expectations,” said Jeff Schwiebert, superintendent of the Sartell-St. Stephen school district in a statement accompanying the data.
Here are some additional scores for specific schools:
Pine Meadow Elementary School
Percent of students meeting or exceeding standards for academic achievement (statewide score is in parenthesis).
Reading 74.9 percent (59.2 percent).
Math 80.2 percent (56.2 percent).
Percent of students who have improved or maintained academic progress (statewide score in parenthesis).
Reading 22.5 percent improved, 62.0 percent maintained (19.5 percent improved, 48.5 maintained).
Math 17.1 percent improved, 71.3 percent maintained (14 percent improved, 50.9 percent maintained)
Oak Ridge Elementary School
Percent of students meeting or exceeding standards for academic achievement (statewide score is listed above in parenthesis).
Reading 73.0 percent.
Math 82.3 percent.
Percent of students who have improved or maintained academic progress (statewide score is listed above in parenthesis).
Reading 25.3 percent improved, 52.7 percent maintained.
Math 27.8 percent improved, 58.3 percent maintained.
Sartell Middle School
Percent of students meeting or exceeding standards for academic achievement (statewide score is above in parenthesis).
Reading 74.2 percent.
Math 75.4 percent.
Percent of students who have improved or maintained academic progress (statewide score is listed above in parenthesis).
Reading 17.1 percent improved, 59.3 percent maintained.
Math 15.6 percent improved, 65.9 maintained.
Sartell High School
Percent of students meeting or exceeding standards for academic achievement (statewide score is above in parenthesis).
Reading 69.7 percent.
Math 72.3 percent.
Parents and community members can review North Star data online for schools and districts by visiting the Minnesota Report Card. Visitors to the site will find information about schools recognized for excellence or prioritized for support, and learn what factors led to their identifications. The report card provides information about a school’s overall performance, and options to look closer at the data to identify areas for improvement or areas of success.
School officials suggest that parents who have questions should contact their school or district office.
