Latest Standardized Testing Yields Mixed Results

Thu., Jan. 15, 1998

Amy Scribner Staff writer

The results are in for annual tests in Spokane’s southernmost school districts and, as one educator put it, the results are “all over the place.”

Fourth- and eighth-graders take the Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills, and 11th-graders take the Curriculum Frameworks Assessment System. Both tests are standardized, meaning a score of 50 is the national average.

No certain trends can be seen in the results in the tests, administered each fall to fourth-, eighth- and 11th-graders to compare their progress with students around the nation.

In Medical Lake schools, for example, elementary students held steady in both the reading and language portions and gained four points over last year in math.

But Medical Lake Middle School students dropped six points in math, five in language and five in reading.

High school students dropped five points in math.

Still, the district’s numbers remained far above the state average across the board.

“We’re holding our own,” said Dan Mueller, Medical Lake Elementary principal and district testing coordinator. “We’re just a little concerned that scores are down a bit from last year.”

Mueller attributed the elementary schools’ gain in math to an increased emphasis on computation exercises. He said in the high school, teachers are working on an incentive program to motivate students during testing.

“Sometimes kids that age just aren’t really interested in testing,” he said.

In Liberty schools, fourth-graders saw significant improvements in math and reading while eighth-grade scores dipped, including a 13-point drop in the language portion.

“It’s a concern to us because they’re not where we want them to be,” said Superintendent Skip Berquam. He added that the district tries to track each grade level of kids as they move through school.

“Some groups just don’t test as well,” he said. “You’ll see that with them all the way through high school.”

Berquam said the district hasn’t yet had time to analyze scores for 11thgraders. Those results were just announced last week.

Cheney officials weren’t available to comment on results.

Here are complete results for Cheney, Medical Lake and Liberty School Districts:

CHENEY

Fourth grade

Reading - 57

Language - 58

Math - 56

Eighth grade

Reading - 55

Language - 50

Math - 51

11th grade

English - 52

History - 48

Science - 60

Math - Score eliminated due to testing problem

MEDICAL LAKE

Fourth grade

Reading - 62

Language - 69

Math - 66

Eighth grade

Reading - 59

Language - 61

Math - 60

11th grade

English - 50

History - 53

Science - 58

Math - 46

LIBERTY

Fourth grade

Reading - 41

Language - 36

Math - 43

Eighth grade

Reading - 33

Language - 38

Math - 51

11th grade

English - 46

History - 42

Science - 48

Math - 61

, DataTimes

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