Louis Hoglund
Report cards are in for area schools, and New York Mills appears to be holding steady.
In the elementary school, 62 percent of the students are proficient in math; while 77 percent scored as proficient in reading. Under the state's "star" ratings, this gives Mills a four-star in reading, and a three-star in math--which is what the school scored last year. There are up to five stars with the state's "report card" system.
At the high school level, however, NY Mills followed the statewide downward trend. Only 40 percent of Mills students scored proficient in math, which compares to 32 percent statewide.
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Statewide, 58 percent of Minnesota students scored at least proficient in math. That's down from 76 percent a year ago. But at the high school level, only 32 percent of students statewide scored proficient at math.
The Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment test results were released last week.
Scores across the entire state went down this year, most noticeably in math.
State education department officials anticipated a drop in statewide performance, because of the tougher material.
Reading tests were also more rigorous than last year, but the impact on the scores was not as dramatic. Statewide, 72 percent of students were proficient in reading--compared to 79 percent last year.
The new tests, called the MCA -IIs, include more grade levels than ever and were taken by more students than ever before--more than 400,000. They were designed to measure learning requirements that are harder than before.
The difficulty of the tests and the lower scores caused the number of Minnesota schools branded as underperforming to jump to 483, from 247. None of the schools in this area were "underperforming," by the state's standards.
These MCA tests try to gauge if schools are meeting their performance goals--or improving year to year. The tests were created at the state level, to tie in with the federal "No Child Left Behind Law."
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'Star' ratings included
in state's reports
The statewide testing report that assesses reading and math proficiency also includes a "star" rating component.
Schools are graded from one to five stars. Reading and math are the main disciplines, but the schools are also awarded stars based on advanced academic opportunities, college level class offerings, and whether there are crisis management, harassment and drug education programs.
Perham schools performed well, compared to other schools with similar numbers of students receiving free and reduced lunches. Lunch statistics are a tool for the Department of Education in evaluating performance, because free and reduced meals are an "indicator," providing a snapshot of the income level in the district.
Following is a summary for each school, based on the annual comprehensive testing scores and the star rating system.
New York Mills Elementary
In reading, grade school students held even with last year at New York Mills, in the state's star rating system.
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More than 30 percent of the students tested scored at the top level of the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment reading tests.
In math, however, the school earned a three star rating. Mills 6th graders tested 51.7 percent proficient--but 48.2 percent of the students were not proficient. The state average of students not proficient was 40.7 percent.
Fifty percent of the New York Mills elementary students qualify for free and reduced lunch. The attendance rate was 97.1 percent.
New York Mills High School
Reading * * *
Math * * *
Math scores were lower than the state average at New York Mills High School. 77.5 percent of Mills students tested "not proficient" in math--compared to a state average of 70 percent.
For reading, 42 percent of 10th graders tested "not proficient," compared to 34 percent statewide.
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Attendance rates were very good at NY Mills High, at 96.4 percent. The graduation rate is 98.3 percent.
