Jun 9, 2008 3:43 pm US/Central
3 In 4 Minn. Sophomores Pass New Reading Tests
ST. PAUL (AP) ―
Three-quarters of Minnesota sophomores can begin their summer break knowing they've performed well enough on a state reading exam to satisfy a requirement for high school graduation.
As freshmen, they faced a writing exam with diploma implications. And as juniors, they'll attempt to check math off their list.
This is the first year for this higher-stakes version of Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment, so comparing results to those from past years is difficult.
Test-takers read short examples of fiction, nonfiction and poetry. They had to answer multiple-choice questions about the purpose, theme, facts and meaning of authors' words. Students also had to craft some written responses.
Through one test, 65,000 sophomores had two chances to prove graduation-ready reading skills. The first was to show they can read and comprehend at grade level. The second was to answer certain questions correctly. Education officials put extra weight on those questions to make the test double as a graduation exam.
The Department of Education said 68 percent of students satisfied the graduation requirement by both demonstrating proficiency and getting a passing score on the selected questions. Higher percentages of students met only one of the goals, but that's still good enough to meet the graduation standard.
Students who fell short have the chance to retake an abbreviated test.
Education Commissioner Alice Seagren said she was thrilled with the results. She said they show students are rising up to meet more rigorous academic standards.
"Reading is foundational to everything else a student does. They can't read a math problem if they don't understand what they are reading," Seagren said. "As our reading scores improve, hopefully the comprehension and understanding of science, math and history will also be impacted by these improved scores."
There are still pockets of concern.
Minnesota's nagging achievement gap remains wide. The percentage of white students meeting the graduation requirement -- 82 percent -- was twice as high as that for black students. Hispanic, Asian and American Indian students also lagged white students.
Other state test results in math, reading and writing should be published by June 30. That will include district-by-district results, which weren't available for Monday's release.
All of the test scores are also a factor in determining a school's standing under the federal No Child Left Behind law. The law requires schools to show continual year-to-year improvement by all types of students or face escalating sanctions.
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