Farmington students fare well on MCA exams

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Farmington students performed better than their peers statewide at almost all levels on Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment tests given during the 2011-12 school year.

Farmington students at all levels met or exceeded expectations on the MCA reading test at a rate greater than did students statewide. On the MCA math test, only eighth grade students lagged behind statewide results.

At Farmington’s two middle schools, 59.9 percent of eighth graders met or exceeded standards on the MCA math test. Statewide, that figure was 62 percent.

Farmington’s scores were held down by the performance of students at Dodge Middle School, where 53.3 percent of students met or exceeded standards. At Boeckman Middle School, 67 percent of students at least met standards.

In some areas, Farmington students were well ahead of state figures. 81.1 percent of third graders met or exceeded standards on the MCA math test, compared to 75.5 percent statewide. On the reading test, 82.5 percent of district sixth graders met or exceeded standards, compared to 76.2 percent statewide.

The release of the MCA results along with other test data this week is the first part of a new process for evaluating Minnesota schools. Later this month the Minnesota Department of Education will release its new Multiple Measures Rating, a replacement for federal No Child Left Behind rules. As opposed to No Child Left Behind Ratings, which were based entirely on MCA performance, the MMR uses test scores as well as factors such as graduation rate, improvement on test scores and the gap between the scores of disadvantaged students and other students.

Tags: school district 192, education, farmington, news