Photos Tim Vansickle Still dealing with the Profile Resources Minnesota Department of Education -- See complete test results Your Voice Join the conversation with other MPR listeners in the News Forum.

	E-mail this page			Print this page

State sets new benchmark for high school tests
by Tim Pugmire, Minnesota Public Radio
July 14, 2004

Tim Vansickle, testing director for the Minnesota Department of Education, says comparing this year's lower test results with last year's is incorrect. "The scores from last year are based on a different set of items and a different test design than we have this year," he said. (MPR Photo/Tim Pugmire)

State education officials have released the test scores they'll use to determine whether Minnesota high schools are meeting performance goals. Results of this year's 10th grade reading test and 11th grade math appeared to have dipped from the 2003 scores, but state testing experts say the exams have changed too significantly to offer a fair comparison.

Roseville, Minn. — This was the second year the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments (MCAs) were given in high school classrooms. It's the first time the results will count. State officials will use the scores as their baseline, to determine whether high schools are meeting the adequate yearly progress requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind Act. The federal government fined the state $112,000 for not being ready to go last year.

More than 65,000 sophomores and 62,000 juniors took the tests last spring. Statewide, 78 percent of 10th grade students performed at or above grade level in reading, compared to 81 percent last year. About 70 percent of 11th graders met or exceeded grade-level proficiency in math, down from 79 percent in 2003.

Tim Vansickle, statewide testing director at the Minnesota Department of Education, cautions against comparing the two years.

"The scores from last year are based on a different set of items and a different test design than we have this year," Vansickle said. "So, comparing those scores would be incorrect to say the least."

	Still dealing with the Profile

The state's test preparation was slowed by the transition from the former state academic standards, known as the Profile of Learning. State lawmakers repealed those standards, which emphasized process over content, in 2003. But schools have not yet fully implemented the new fact-heavy replacements.

Deputy Commissioner Chas Anderson says the lack of specific requirements in the Profile made it hard for the department to create the high school tests, especially for math.

"If you look at the Profile in math, in high school, it required that the schools teach shape, space and measurement, and then allowed electives in algebraic patterns, technical applications, discrete math or chance and data analysis," Anderson said. "And there was a lot of difficulty, because you cannot test students on areas that are not required."

Still, state testing will remain tied to the Profile of Learning for another two years. Tests that are fully aligned to the new standards won't arrive until 2006. Rep. Mindy Greiling, DFL-Roseville, questions the value of the current test data. She claims the testing system is wasting money that could be better used to help struggling schools.

"This just, to me, is not the time to be diddling with all these changes in the test," Greiling said. "We would have been better off adjusting the Profile of Learning that we had before, where we had authentic learning being tested in multiple ways. Instead now we're trying to get a paper and pencil test to do more of this rote learning testing, which isn't as meaningful."

Greiling favors a testing system that measures the performance of students over time, rather than testing a different group of students each year. The Legislature recently directed the Department of Education to begin working on such a system, but it's still several years away.

Meanwhile, Deputy Commissioner Anderson defends the value of the current testing approach.

"It's not completely illogical to compare one group of fourth graders, for instance, against another group of fourth graders," Anderson said. "It's kind of asking how well is the school doing in teaching the 4th graders the standards that the state has set forth."

Test scores are only one measurement for school performance. Schools must also meet the minimum test participation rate of 95 percent. It's been a problem in the past at some high schools, where large numbers of students chose to skip the tests.

Jerry Hansen, principal of Andover High School, says he's taking the issue seriously.

"We've got a few days of makeup days where students can take the test," Hansen said. "Let's say they're ill on the day the test was given, then the next day if it's a makeup day, we scoop them up right away that morning and they take the test that day. They don't return to classes until they take that test."

School officials will receive their preliminary performance data later this week. The official list of underperforming schools comes out next month.

News Headlines

Related Subjects