Richfield Students Make Gains in Reading, Perform Below State Averages in Math

Data released by the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) last Wednesday showed that the percentage of students in the Richfield Public School District who meet or exceed standards on a new, more rigorous math assessment test was well below state averages.

The Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment III (MCA-III) test in math, administered for the first time in April 2011, revealed that sixth- and seventh-grade students in the district scored particularly low, with less than one-quarter of Richfield Public School students in those grades performing at or above the test’s standards. Statewide 50 percent of sixth-grade students and 52 percent of seventh-grade students met the MCA-III’s standards.

Minnesota students in Grades 3 though 8 took both math and reading assessment tests last April, while 10th-graders took only the statewide reading test and 11th-graders took the older MCA-II math test. The 2011 results for the MCA-III math test will be used to establish a new baseline for measuring student performance in Grades 3 through 8.

Eleventh graders showed a 5.3 percent increase in math proficiency statewide. Reading scores amongst Minnesota Public School students showed a 1.6 percent increase in student proficiency.

Students in Richfield Public Schools scored better on the MCA-II reading test, continuing to close the achievement gap between white students and students of color. Closing the achievement gap remains a primary goal for the district.

In Richfield black and white students in fifth-grade both outperformed state averages for their subgroup in reading, while Asian students outperformed state averages for their subgroup.

Overall black students in Richfield Public Schools made an 11 percent gain in reading proficiency and white students made a five percent gain in reading proficiency.

said that while he was “disappointed” in the district’s math scores, he was pleased with results from the MCA-II test in reading. Mirroring the statewide trend, all student groups in Richfield improved in reading proficiency.

“Besides raising overall performance and getting closer and closer to the state average, we’re closing that achievement gap,” Slotterback said. “We’re certainly moving in the right direction with reading scores.”

Despite these gains the overall percentage of students in Richfield meeting reading standards remains below state averages.

The New MCA-III Test

Minnesota Education Commissioner Brenda Cassellius noted that fewer students in Grades 3 through 8 tested at a proficient level on the MCA math test due to the new test’s more difficult content.

“This year’s test will set a baseline for us to measure our improvement over the next several years,” Cassellius wrote in a press release. “Just as we have with 11^th-grade math scores and grades 3-8 MCA-II reading scores, we believe we’ll continue to see continued gains in student mastery of the new rigorous standards.”

Slotterback cautioned that, because it was the first year the new, tougher standards had been implemented in math testing, it was meaningless to draw firm conclusions about Wednesday’s results.

“The example I’ve been giving parents is [that] we can certainly test children on their calculus skills, [but] it doesn’t mean they’ll do well,” he said, noting that testing students on content they haven’t been taught gives mixed results at best. “If you look at the last four to five years, we were given a test and target, and now the test (the MCA) has been redone and apparently made significantly more difficult.”

Slotterback said the testing of students had gone overboard recently and was having a negative impact on learning in Richfield.

“There’s a misconception in education right now. Testing kids doesn’t make kids better–teaching kids math is what makes kids better in math,” he said. “We spend a huge amount of time away from instruction with test preparation now. We spend way too much time on assessment.”