School District 192 sees both good and bad in test results

Talk about it

Farmington students scored above their peers nationwide at all grade levels on the Northwest Evaluation Association’s Measures of Academic Progress given to nearly all second- through eighth grade students in the spring.

Farmington students take the computer-based test in the fall and in the spring as a way to measure student achievement and growth from the beginning of the school year to the end.

At many grade levels, Farmington students scored above students in the next grade level nationwide, and in some cases students are ahead of the national norm for students who are two grades older.

Teachers can use the MAP Test results to identify students who need extra help or who are excelling.

Farmington School Board members were generally happy with the results presented to them at their regular meeting Monday, but they still found some cause for concern. While their results never dip below national norms, Farmington students in some cases show a larger than usual drop in performance from spring to fall. Information from the past six year shows last year’s eighth graders had a decline in their MAP reading results from the spring of their third grade year to the fall of their fourth grade year, from spring of fifth grade to fall of sixth grade and from spring of sixth grade to fall of seventh. On the MAP math test students in last year’s seventh grade class showed declines from spring of fourth grade to fall of fifth, from fifth to sixth and from sixth to seventh.

In both cases, results are slightly better among students who have been enrolled in Farmington schools the entire time.

“We definitely show more fluctuation than the national norm,” said Sharon Davenport, the district’s teaching and learning specialist. “We’re showing far more drop than we should and we’re showing far more drop than we used to.”

Davenport called the fluctuations “a concern” but couldn’t offer any explanations Monday for why there happening or how they might be addressed.

“We want the students to make the big jump in the spring, but we also want to make sure they have enough in there to meet the obligations in the fall,” board member Julie Singewald said.

Tags: school district 192, education, farmington, news