Statewide look at 2011 PASS

PASS results by subject 

Writing: The writing test included multiple-choice questions and one extended-response (essay) item. In 2011, only fifth- and eighth-grade students were assessed in writing. Fifth-graders had the higher “passing” percentage of students meeting the standard or showing exemplary performance – 77.7 percent. The eighth-grade passing rate was 67.8 percent. The passing rate increased in one of the two grades tested.English language arts (reading and research) – The ELA test contained multiple-choice questions based on reading passages.

Third-graders had the highest passing percentage at 80.0 percent. Grade 8 was lowest at 67.8 percent. The passing rate increased in three of six grades.

Mathematics: The mathematics test contained only multiple-choice items. Grade 4 had the best passing rate at 79.4 percent. Grade 8 was lowest at 69.5 percent. The passing rate increased in all six grades.

Science: The seventh-grade passing rate of 71.7 percent was best on this multiple-choice test. Grade 3 was lowest at 60.8 percent. The passing rate increased in four of six grades.

Social studies: This test also contained only multiple-choice questions. Grade 6 had the best passing rate at 77.6 percent, while Grade 7 was lowest at 63.4 percent.The passing rate increased in five of six grades. 

Exemplary

Third-grade English language arts had the highest percentage of students scoring at the exemplary level — 54.9 percent, a gain of 1.0 percentage points over 2010. Grade 3 also had the highest percentage of exemplary-level scorers in two other subjects – math at 42.9 percent and social studies at 37.4 percent. Eighth-graders had the highest percentage at the exemplary scoring level for science at 36.9 percent. In writing, Grade 5 was the higher at 37.7 percent.
The lowest percentage of exemplary scores occurred in science at grade 6 – 14.4 percent, a slight (0.2 percentage point) gain over last year’s results.

Demographic results  

The highest passing rate for black students came in ELA at the third-grade level – 68.5 percent.  The lowest passing rate for black students was 39.0 percent in Grade 3 science.  The highest percentage of black students with exemplary scores – 36.5 percent – occurred in third-grade ELA and represented a slight drop of 0.4 percentage points from 2010.  The smallest percentage with exemplary scores was 4.1 percent in sixth-grade science, a gain of 0.6 points.

LEP students recorded their highest passing marks in math (78.0 percent in Grade 4 and 73.4 percent in Grade 5) and social studies – 75.4 percent in Grade 6 and 74.0 percent in Grade 4. Their lowest passing marks came in science testing – 48.4 in Grade 6.  The highest percentage of limited English proficient students with exemplary scores – 44.5 percent – occurred in third-grade English language arts and represented a gain of 1.7 percentage points.  The smallest percentage with exemplary scores was 9.2 percent in sixth-grade science.

The highest passing rate for students enrolled in free or reduced-price school food programs was 72.4 percent – a mark reached in third-grade ELA. The lowest passing rate was 48.7 percent in Grade 3 science. The highest percentage of free/reduced-price students with exemplary scores was 42.3 percent in third-grade English language arts, representing a gain of one percentage point over 2010.  The smallest percentage with exemplary scores was 6.8 percent in sixth-grade science. 

Summary of statewide 2011 results for all students

Grade 3

Writing – not tested at this grade.

ELA (reading and research) – 80.0 percent Met or showed Exemplary performance in meeting the grade-level standard.

Mathematics – 70.4 percent Met or showed Exemplary performance in meeting the grade-level standard.

Science – 60.8 percent Met or showed Exemplary performance in meeting the grade-level standard.

Social Studies – 76.6 percent Met or showed Exemplary performance in meeting the grade-level standard.

The percentage of students scoring Met or above increased in three of four subjects.

Grade 4

Writing – not tested at this grade.

ELA (reading and research) – 78.0 percent Met or showed Exemplary performance in meeting the grade-level standard.

Mathematics – 79.4 percent Met or showed Exemplary performance in meeting the grade-level standard.

Science – 70.9 percent Met or showed Exemplary performance in meeting the grade-level standard.

Social Studies – 77.1 percent Met or showed Exemplary performance in meeting the grade-level standard.

The percentage of students scoring Met or above increased in all four subjects.

Grade 5

Writing -77.7 percent Met or showed Exemplary performance in meeting the grade-level standard.

ELA (reading and research) – 78.3 percent Met or showed Exemplary performance in meeting the grade-level standard.

Mathematics – 75.3 percent Met or showed Exemplary performance in meeting the grade-level standard.

Science – 64.9 percent Met or showed Exemplary performance in meeting the grade-level standard.

Social Studies – 70.4 percent Met or showed Exemplary performance in meeting the grade-level standard.

The percentage of students scoring Met or above increased in four of five subjects.

Grade 6

Writing – not tested at this grade.

ELA (reading and research) – 70.2 percent Met or showed Exemplary performance in meeting the grade-level standard.

Mathematics – 72.5 percent Met or showed Exemplary performance in meeting the grade-level standard.

Science – 64.9 percent Met or showed Exemplary performance in meeting the grade-level standard.

Social Studies – 77.6 percent Met or showed Exemplary performance in meeting the grade-level standard.

The percentage of students scoring Met or above increased in two of four subjects.

Grade 7

Writing – not tested at this grade.

ELA (reading and research) – 68.4 percent Met or showed Exemplary performance in meeting the grade-level standard.

Mathematics – 69.7 percent Met or showed Exemplary performance in meeting the grade-level standard.

Science – 71.7 percent Met or showed Exemplary performance in meeting the grade-level standard.

Social Studies – 63.4 percent Met or showed Exemplary performance in meeting the grade-level standard.

The percentage of students scoring Met or above increased in two of four subjects.

Grade 8

Writing – 67.8 percent Met or showed Exemplary performance in meeting the grade-level standard.

ELA (reading and research) – 67.8 percent Met or showed Exemplary performance in meeting the grade-level standard.

Mathematics – 69.5 percent Met or showed Exemplary performance in meeting the grade-level standard.

Science – 70.1 percent Met or showed Exemplary performance in meeting the grade-level standard.

Social Studies – 71.9 percent Met or showed Exemplary performance in meeting the grade-level standard.

The percentage of students scoring Met or above increased in four of five subjects.