Students Above Average Cda Schools Score In 60Th, 70Th Percentiles On Skills Tests

Students in the Coeur d’Alene School District scored far above national averages on a standardized test, according to results released Thursday by the state Department of Education.

“We’re quite pleased,” said David Rawls, superintendent of the district. “Compliments to our teachers.”

The Iowa Test of Basic Skills and Tests of Achievement and Proficiency are taken each fall in grades 3 through 11. All students are tested in reading, language arts and math. Students in grades 3, 5, 7 and 9 also are tested in social studies, science and reference materials.

Coeur d’Alene students scored in the 60th percentile or better in grades 3, 4, 5, 6, and 11, and in in the 70th percentiles in grades 7 through 10.

North Idaho’s other two largest school districts, Post Falls and Lakeland, outpaced national averages in some grades levels and fell short in others.

“One of the things we analyzed is we did rather well on science scores,” said Jerry Keane, assistant superintendent in Post Falls. “On the other side, it doesn’t look like our computation is as good as it should be at the elementary level.”

Math scores were below average for grades 3 through 6 in Post Falls, and above average for all other grade levels. Science scores were above average in all grade levels tested.

Administrators said the test helps districts focus on areas that need improvement. For example, said Ron Schmidt, assistant superintendent of Lakeland, past test scores have shown that elementary school students need to improve their math scores. So the district adopted a new math curriculum this year to address that problem.

“Our expectation is we’re going to see a skill level for our students increase. We need to really focus in on basic skills, like math computation,” he said.

Math scores for Lakeland third- and fourth-graders were below average, in the 41st and 43rd percentiles, but were above average for all other grade levels.

And despite its strong showing overall, there are areas the Coeur d’Alene district needs to focus on, Rawls said.

“We don’t have a strong sense reading is a problem,” Rawls said. “Spelling is.”

Students in grades 3, 5, and 7 scored below national averages in spelling, in the 45th, 44th and 46th percentiles, respectively.

Rawls said district staff will use the test scores to guide efforts to improve.

“Teachers responding to our scores have said, `If that’s an area where our kids aren’t doing as well, let’s concentrate on that area,’ ” Rawls said. “Our principals and teachers have made an effort to focus on that.”

One factor that could have contributed to lower test scores in some areas is the fact that the 1999-2000 scores are now compared to more up-to-date national averages. For the past seven years, Idaho used the scores from a 1992 standard. In 1995, those standards were readjusted. Comparing scores to the most recent standards has a tendency to make them fall slightly.

State Schools Superintendent Marilyn Howard said Hispanics, Native Americans, migrants and students with limited English proficiency and those from poor families scored significantly below national and state averages. She also noted that girls show more proficiency than boys in written language skills.

A statewide initiative kicked off last year to help ensure all students are reading at their grade level by third grade should help address those disparities, she said.