By Josh Chase, Staff Writer 

Prior Lake-Savage Area School District students at every grade level beat the state average when they took the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment Series II in April, according to Minnesota Department of Education data released this week.

Results of the math and reading tests – required under the No Child Left Behind Act – were encouraging for district officials, said Superintendent Sue Ann Gruver, who added that in most cases area students performed better than students in the same grade levels did last year.

“We’re making progress toward our goal of having students meet those standards,” said the superintendent.

In math, 51.8 percent of high school juniors, who took the test under the pretense that a passing score would be required for graduation, passed the exam. That marks a 4.5-percent increase over last year’s juniors and a 9.6-percent increase over the state average. Gruver is confident the remaining 11th-graders will pass the test next year.

“A test is like a Polaroid shot,” said the superintendent. “It’s of that student on that day at that time. So, many of those students will take it again and pass it.”

As a result of changes in state law, students who failed the exam can take it two more times. If they still don’t pass but meet other state and local requirements, those students still can earn diplomas.

Gruver said it’s possible that failing scores reflected a problem with retention rather than a problem with learning, since by the time students take the MCA-II in their junior year, some are no longer studying math.

“The question is: Are we giving the test at the right time?” the superintendent explained. “If you’re taking your math in ninth and 10th grade and then you take a year off, you’re not thinking about math.”

Math tests also were administered to students in grades three through eight. Prior Lake-Savage Area students beat the statewide average and – in most cases – scored better than students in the same grade levels did last year.

Despite small decreases from students in third grade (2.1 percent) and fifth grade (1.5 percent), the only students to lose ground were sixth-graders, 65.3 percent of whom passed the test, compared to 78 percent of last year’s sixth-graders – a 12.7-percent decrease in passing scores.

“What’s strange about that to me is that in reading, those same students had the highest gains,” said Gruver, who added such an “anomaly” highlights the difficulty in judging students based on standardized tests. Other factors can influence test scores, she said. For example, she said, this year’s sixth-graders studied under a different math curriculum than they did last year and an adjustment period could have skewed the results. Other things, like printing errors on test booklets, have negatively impacted scores in the past, she said.

“We continue to look at this as a measure, but it isn’t the only measure we use by any means,” Gruver noted.

As for reading, Prior Lake-Savage Area students at every grade level beat the state average by at least 6 percent. Almost the same percentage of sophomores passed this year’s test (80.8 percent) as did last year’s (81 percent). Similarly, seventh grade saw a .2-percent decline, from 71.2 percent in 2008 to 71 percent in 2009. Only third-graders showed a bigger drop (1.5 percent).

In all, Gruver said, the results were positive.

“What this says to me is we’re doing a great job and we’re holding our own with these scores,” she said. “When I looked at the scores, I thought we made progress. I’m pleased with the results, particularly with how they did against themselves.”

Now that the tests are out, the district plans to analyze the results and identify areas where improvements can be made. Results will be sorted by grade level and building and then broken down further. Students on the Free and Reduced Lunch program will be compared with students who aren’t, and the same goes for English Language Learners. Other factors, like ethnicity, also will be considered, Gruver said.

“A lot of analysis is going to happen over the next three to four months,” she said. “This is all just helping us analyze how we can get better.”

John Bennett, an assistant principal at Prior Lake High School, is in charge of administering tests at the high school and said students will have numerous opportunities to retake the tests. This year, for instance, the school held four retests.

Bennett said test dates won’t be scheduled until the results are analyzed.

Fortunately for students who failed the exams, the state Department of Education offers online remediation courses that address specific areas of concern for each student, he added. Additionally, sample questions can be found on the department’s Web site so parents and students can prepare for upcoming exams.

Also, the school ensures items that will be on the test are covered in classrooms, Bennett added.

“We have the information that they’re tested on embedded into their coursework, and teachers have implemented that to make sure that students have been taught those specific [concepts],” he said. “There’s a lot of information out there for kids to be successful.”

 Josh Chase can be reached at (952) 345-6375 or jchase@swpub.com.