Albert Lea students made gains in some areas while others fell below state averages based on Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment test results released Tuesday.

Director of Teaching and Learning Mary Williams said the district saw some increases in math proficiency from last year at the elementary level.

“The school board’s goal is to exceed state proficiency averages,” Williams said. “We’re heading in that direction.”

On reading tests, just a little more than half of third- through eighth-grade students and 10th-graders met or exceeded state expectations. The Department of Education attributed that to the new reading test implemented statewide in 2013, which the agency said was more rigorous than its predecessor. Tenth-graders and seventh-graders in Albert Lea exceeded state averages in reading, and Williams said that was good news since the new test was more difficult.

Two schools in the district, Sibley Elementary School and Lakeview Elementary School, exceeded state averages in math, reading and science. Students at Halverson Elementary School, Hawthorne Elementary School, Southwest Middle School and Albert Lea High School as a whole did not exceed any state averages when looking at the whole building. Some individual grades exceeded state averages, like 10th-graders doing well on the reading test.

“We’re making gains,” Williams said. “We still have concerns.”

Williams said each building principal will use these results in creating a school improvement plan. A goal for principals is to continue to cultivate professional learning among staff. Administrators believe if staff have the time and ability to share what works and doesn’t work in classrooms that the whole school will benefit.

“That’s the center of all our work in our schools,” Williams said. “We just need to keep moving forward.”

Annual yearly progress results will be released later this fall because the state used a new testing system.