MCA results released statewide

State-mandated test scores at elementary levels in Albert Lea are turning in the right direction, said Mary Williams, director of teaching and learning. However, she said there are concerns about results at the secondary level.

There were no major increases or decreases to Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment proficiency from 2013 to 2014 in the Albert Lea Area Schools.

MCA scores were released Tuesday to the public on the Minnesota Department of Education’s website.

Two big changes came to the exam this year in Albert Lea. The 11th grade math MCA was updated to new state standards and students took these MCA exams online versus on paper.

Elementary scores were just under the state average in the three testing areas. The state average for elementary math proficiency was 67.7 percent, and the Albert Lea average was 66.8 percent. For reading, the state average was 60.1 percent and the Albert Lea average was 59.4 percent.

The science MCA is administered only to fifth-grade students in elementary school. The state proficiency in this testing area was 61.4 percent, and the Albert Lea average was 59.3 percent.

Compared to last year, the elementary MCA scores have all increased, save for fourth-grade math, where the proficiency dropped .2 percent from last year.

For middle school students, which are sixth and seventh grades, the difference between the state average and the district average is a bit larger. Middle school math proficiency was an average of 55.8 percent for the state and 43.5 percent for Albert Lea. The reading proficiency averaged at 58.1 percent and Albert Lea was 49.9 percent.

From last year, sixth-grade math proficiency jumped about 7 percent, while seventh-grade math proficiency fell about 7 percent.

Sixth-grade reading proficiency fell about 5 percent and seventh-grade proficiency fell about 2 percent from last year, but new reading standards were implemented in 2013.

Williams said scores generally drop the first year the MCA’s standards are updated. This correlates to the big drop in reading proficiency in the district from 2012 to 2013, resulting in about a 16 percent drop in the district.

Williams said this is the reason for a slight drop in the 11th grade math proficiency level, as the juniors who took the MCAs were assessed with the MCA-III in math versus the MCA-II.

When an MCA exam is updated to align with new state standards, it’s given a new name in the form of a roman numeral; therefore the MCA-III is the current standards that students should be tested at according to the MDE.

In the high school, the state average math proficiency was 54 percent and the Albert Lea average was 43.4 percent. The state average reading proficiency was 57.8 percent while the Albert Lea average was 45.9 percent. The state average science proficiency was 49.4 percent, while Albert Lea’s average was 29.6 percent.

Overall, the state average proficiency was 60.5 percent in math, 58.8 percent in reading and 53.4 percent in science. In Albert Lea, for all of the schools, the proficiency was 53.9 percent in math, 58.8 percent in reading and 38.7 percent in science.

Williams said that the Multiple Measurement Rating, or MMR, will also be released Oct. 1. The MMR looks at other benchmarks such as growth and achievement gap reduction, and doesn’t focus just on proficiency.

The testing score data and MMR data will be discussed with the public during a later school board meeting, Williams said.

All percentage data came from the MDE’s website and is available for viewing. The tests included in the percentages are the MCA-II and MCA-III, as well as the MCA-Modified, which is given to special education students, and the Minnesota Test of Academic Skills, which is given to students with more significant cognitive disabilities.

 

Statewide advances

According to a press release from the MDE, Minnesota state test scores are improving. The Nation’s Report Card, given by the National Assessment of Education Progress, put Minnesota 4th graders first in the nation on math and 10th in the nation on reading, which is up from 22nd in 2011.

The NAEP results also showed a closure in the achievement gap.

This year’s scores also showed, according to the press release, that all student groups — with the exception of English learners — improved by at least one percent on the reading MCA; English learners stayed at the same proficiency.

“We are seeing steady improvement in student achievement. The trend line is up, and that’s progress,” Education Commissioner Brenda Cassellius said in the release. “This kind of change is exactly what we hope to see as our teachers master how to best teach our tougher standards, so each student approaches the test confident and fully prepared. It is critical that we use these scores, along with other indicators of student achievement, to inform our efforts on how best to support our teachers as they prepare our students for career and college.”

 

Usefulness of the MCA

Despite these statewide advances, Denise Specht, the president of Education Minnesota, a union representing teachers in Minnesota, released a statement Tuesday doubting the usefulness of the MCA.

“MCA data are almost worthless for teachers and parents who want to improve instruction for individual students,” Specht said. “The results come too late for teachers to help the students they had last spring and the results are too unsophisticated to guide teachers who have those students this fall. It might get better next year when the state returns the results much quicker, but right now high-stakes tests like the MCAs have become an expensive distraction from our educators’ mission of preparing each child for a successful life.

“I’m conflicted when people talk about rising test scores,” Specht said. “It’s nice for educators to get a pat on the back, but they are being complimented for building better bubble fillers, which is a terrible goal for a school system.”