New Assessment Results Back; Educators Pleased
FROM FOR THE RECORD (Friday, September 19, 1997): Correction Incorrect scores: Fourth-grade test scores for students in the Nine Mile Falls School District were reported incorrectly in Thursday’s edition of the North Side Voice. In reading, 58.9 percent of students met or exceeded the state standard, while in listening, 74.1 percent met or exceeded the state standard.
Fourth-graders in the Nine Mile Falls School District scored above their counterparts on the state’s new assessment tests.
When asked if he was pleased with test results, district superintendent Don Baumberger said: “Darn right. We know what we’re doing.”
The numbers appear to back up his claim, with scores representing the percentage of students meeting the state standard: math, 28.6 percent; reading, 47.6 percent; writing, 52.7 percent; and listening, 61.7 percent.
Statewide, students scored an average 22 percent in math; 48 percent in reading; 42 percent in writing; and 62 percent in listening.
“This is what’s significant,” Baumberger said. “Not only did we exceed the state in the percentage of students who passed, we tested more kids than the state. Our numbers are a more accurate reflection of what we’re doing district wide.
“I feel good,” Baumberger said. “I think our students fared very well.”
Baumberger credited the district with having “great organization” of each discipline.
“I think we articulate well and make sure all disciplines are covered,” he said.
Like Nine Mile Falls, the Mead School District also fared better than the state average in all categories: math, 30.4 percent; reading, 57.4 percent; writing, 50 percent; and listening, 71 percent.
Joan Kingery, Mead’s assistant superintendent, said district officials were pleased with the numbers.
“We also have a whole bunch of students who, though they did not meet the standards, almost did,” Kingery said.
In the Riverside School District, fourth-graders scored slightly lower than students statewide in math and reading but slightly higher in writing and listening, according to assistant superintendent Terry Weinmann.
The Riverside scores were: math, 19.5 percent; reading, 45.1 percent; writing, 49.4 percent; and listening, 63.4 percent.
“We just got the results back late last week,” Weinmann said. “We will sit down and look at things like who we tested and percentages and all, and try to get a more accurate feel of what all the test scores mean.”
In Deer Park, the scores were math, 13.5 percent; reading, 33.3 percent; writing, 27.7 percent; and listening, 61.7 percent.
Barb Palanio, Deer Park’s district curriculum coordinator and a thirdgrade teacher at Arcadia Elementary, said district officials are not pushing any panic buttons.
“As I heard someone say, ‘a test is one snapshot in an entire photo album,”’ Palanio said.
Students scoring in level’s 3 and 4 on the test were determined to be at or above expectations. Those in level’s 1 and 2 were below.
Deer Park had a “high percentage” of students at the high end of level 2, Palanio said.
“We feel quite satisfied we were on the right track,” Palanio said. “Although in math, we were quite surprised at how low we were.”
, DataTimes