Idaho students’ math scores drop on tests

Tue., March 27, 2007

Rebecca Boone Associated Press

Results of how students fared

All Idaho students take the Direct Math Assessment in fourth, sixth and eighth grades, while fifth-, seventh- and ninth-graders take the Direct Writing Assessment. Here are their scores for the 2006-2007 school year, rounded to the nearest percent.

Because of the rounding, percentages for some grades do not equal precisely 100.

Direct Math Assessment results:

Among fourth-graders, 5 percent were better than proficient, 63 percent were proficient, 28 percent had only basic skills and 4 percent had less than basic skills.

Among sixth-graders, 5 percent were better than proficient, 40 percent were proficient, 38 percent had only basic skills and 18 percent had less than basic skills. (101)

Among eighth-graders, 17 percent were better than proficient, 41 percent were proficient, 34 percent had only basic skills and 8 percent had less than basic skills.

Direct Writing Assessment results:

Among fifth-graders, 13 percent were better than proficient, 61 percent were proficient, 20 percent had only basic skills and 5 percent had less than basic skills.

Among seventh-graders, 9 percent were better than proficient, 66 percent were proficient, 22 percent had only basic skills and 3 percent had less than basic skills.

Among ninth-graders, 10 percent were better than proficient, 67 percent were proficient, 21 percent had only basic skills and 2 percent had less than basic skills.

Source: Idaho Department of Education

BOISE – Idaho students’ math scores have dropped, statewide tests show.

Only 45 percent of sixth-grade students were considered proficient or better in math during the 2006-2007 school year – compared with 54 percent of students from the previous year. Fourth-graders also performed less well on their test, with 68 percent of students scoring proficient or better compared with 73 percent the previous year.

Scores among eighth-graders also dropped, with 58 percent of students scoring at proficiency or better compared with 68 percent during the 2005-2006 school year.

The scores show that parents and teachers are right to be concerned about the math education schools are offering, State Schools Superintendent Tom Luna said.

“Fortunately, we now have a plan to help those students who are struggling with math,” Luna said. “The public schools budget includes $350,000 to create a math initiative that will help Idaho’s children master critical math skills.”

But it will take at least a year before that initiative is rolled out to schools, said state Department of Education spokeswoman Melissa McGrath. First, the department will use the $350,000 to research and develop ways to better teach math skills. Once the department develops the plan, the Legislature will have to approve money to implement the initiative, she said.

“We know we’re going to need money for teacher training and assessment,” McGrath said. “As always we’re optimistic that schools will be able to make changes and see better results on this test, but the earliest we could implement the statewide math initiative will probably be fall 2009.”

For now, it’s not clear why students are performing so poorly, she said.

The state rewrote the math test after the 2004-2005 school year, making comparisons with earlier years’ math results difficult, McGrath said.

The department will look at all of the standardized tests Idaho students are given, Luna said, and some tests may be consolidated or eliminated.

“A student that does well on direct writing and math assessments we would assume would conversely perform well on the ISAT (Idaho Standard Assessment Test),” Luna said. “This is one reason why we’re going to go through this whole review of all of our assessments, to see if there’s any way we can gather the same information with fewer tests.”

In the meantime, Luna said, schools can get some help for their struggling students through a $5 million classroom enhancement package approved by the Legislature to assist students who are scoring poorly on assessment tests.

“What I get from these assessments is that it’s time that we focus on math just like we did 10 years ago with reading,” Luna said. “It’s not too much to expect that a student graduate from high school proficient in math and proficient in writing.”

Students scored better on the state writing assessment, according to the Education Department, with 74 percent of fifth-graders, 75 percent of seventh-graders and 77 percent of ninth-graders scoring proficient or above.

McGrath said students likely scored better on the writing exams because of Idaho’s Reading Initiative, which the department began a decade ago to help students become more literate.