Burnsville High School MCA Results: Reading, Math, Science Scores Down

BURNSVILLE, MN — Results from the 2017 Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments (MCAs) released this week show some encouraging sings, but also signs there's still a lot of work to be done to improve Burnsville-Eagan-Savage School District 191.

At Burnsville High School, MCA results were down in reading, math and science. Although the results are not what the district hopes to see, school officials said a decline in test scores is typical when schools implement major changes.

In 2016-17, as part of Vision One91, BHS added ninth grade, implemented the new Pathways model, launched 31 new courses, and began a one-to-one program where each student receives a Chromebook personal learning device.

At the elementary level, where the district piloted new literacy curriculum and teaching strategies during 2016-17, proficiency rates on the MCA reading tests increased among 3rd and 5th grade students. In particular, those classrooms where the new curriculum was used saw the highest student growth and percentage of students meeting growth goals, as measured by NWEA/MAP assessments.

The new elementary literacy curriculum materials and teaching strategies, called Making Meaning and Being a Reader, will be used throughout District 191 elementary schools beginning this coming school year.

“Seeing those results was encouraging, and we anticipate that the growth students are demonstrating will lead to higher proficiency on the MCAs in coming years,” said Dr. Stacie Stanley, director of curriculum, assessment, instruction and support services, in a statement.

(For more local news, click here to sign up for real-time news alerts and newsletters from Minnesota Patch, click here to find your local Minnesota Patch. Also, follow us on Facebook, and if you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)

Some schools showed especially strong results on the MCA tests, including Sioux Trail Elementary, where proficiency rates schoolwide rose in reading, math and science, and were more than 10 points above state average. Sioux Trail was a pilot site for the district’s work to become a culturally proficient school system (CPSS), which supports personalized learning. The school won a Local Government Innovation Award from the University of Minnesota Humphrey Institute for its CPSS work and success last year, according to a news release.

While math proficiency rates were down among 3rd and 4th grade students districtwide, there was an increase for 5th graders. In addition, science scores rose among 5th graders for the first time in several years.

There were mixed results at the middle school level, where reading proficiency rates rose among 7th and 8th grade students. Math proficiency rates rates rose in 7th grade, with a decrease in 6th and 8th grades. Scores on the MCA science test, taken by 8th graders, rose by more than 10 percent.

Stanley pointed to success the district saw with a new middle school intervention program called Read 180 and Math 180. Many of the students who received those interventions moved from the lowest level of proficiency (Does Not Meet) on MCA tests to “Meets Proficiency.” Those results, Stanley said, are why the district will be using Read 180 and Math 180 with struggling students in middle and high school going forward.

Image via Shutterstock