Albert Lea students followed state trends in the results of the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment tests that were released Wednesday.

Across the state there was an increase in proficiency in reading, and fifth-graders in Albert Lea scored best out of the district with 83 percent meeting or exceeding standards. Third-, fourth-, sixth-, seventh- and 10th-grade were all around the 70 percent proficiency mark, with eighth-grade the lowest at about 62 percent proficiency. Mary Williams, director of teaching and learning for the Albert Lea School District, said fifth- and sixth-grade were above the state average in reading and math.

“We saw improvements as a district,” Williams said. “We’re adjusting out instruction and focusing on student engagement and learning and hope to see even more improvements next year.”

Math scores can’t be compared to previous years with a new, more rigorous assessment. Eighth-graders and seventh-graders both had the lowest proficiency with only 44 percent meeting or exceeding standards.

“Across the state those scores dropped,” Williams said. “There’s a new series of standards and that’s generally what happens the first year out.”

The new test was MCA-III, whereas previous years the test was MCA-II. Williams said the district didn’t get what information the test would cover until the middle of the school year, which made it hard for teachers to help prepare students.

“This year’s test will set a baseline for us to measure our improvement over the next several years,” said Minnesota Education Commissioner Brenda Cassellius. “Just as we have with 11th-grade math scores and grades 3-8 MCA II reading scores, we believe we’ll continue to see continued gains in student mastery of the new rigorous standards.”

The department reported that 74 percent of Minnesota students scored as proficient in reading on the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments last spring, an increase of 1.6 percent from the previous year. The biggest gains were in grades five through seven, where minority students showed more improvement on average than their white counterparts.

The number of 11th-graders who scored as proficient in math increased 5.3 percent from the previous year to 48.6 percent. However, the state’s academic achievement gap between white students and racial minorities remained. For example, 16 percent of black 11th-graders made the grade while 55 percent of white juniors did.

It was difficult to calculate an overall math score for the state because students in grades three through eight took a test based on tough new standards for the first time. Those standards, which include the expectation that eighth-graders be proficient in algebra, were announced in 2007 and assessed for the first time this spring.

The release of Adequate Yearly Progress reports are on hold pending the U.S. Department of Education’s ruling on Minnesota’s No Child Left Behind waiver request.