Math, science test scores improve, reading decreases
Tue, 06/22/2010 - 12:00am
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RED OAK – Test scores released last week, prove Red Oak students need to focus on a balanced education.
At the Red Oak school board meeting last week, the results of the 2009-10 Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS) test scores showed that Red Oak’s students were improving in math and science, but their scores decreased in reading.
The only class to improve in reading from 2009 was the 11th grade, which was up 1.6 percent at 80.9 percent proficient. The biggest drop was in third and fifth grade reading, which scored 61.5 and 63.6 percent proficient. Those scores were 12.6 and 12.8 percent below their goal.
In math, the fifth grade scored the highest in the district, at 82.3 percent proficient, which was 11.5 percent above goal. The third grade scores were the lowest, at 67.9 percent, but was still a half percent above their goal.
In science, the 11th grade scored the lowest in the district, at 77.3 percent. The 2010 eighth grade scored the highest with 87.2 percent proficiency, followed by the third grade and the seventh grade, which were 84.6 and 84 percent, respectively.
Three years ago, the district was struggling in math and science, and at that time, the board approved a plan to add an extra 30 minutes each day to work on math and science rather than other basic subjects.
“I think these scores showed that while we were improving in areas that were a weakness before, we can’t just focus on those subjects alone,” Red Oak Superintendent Terry Schmidt said. “We have to give our students a balanced education.”
The board did discuss potential variables to the drop in their reading scores, including the time of year that the test was taken, the number of days missed prior to the testing due to weather, and the order of which the tests were taken.
“Having taken the reading tests first, I wonder if the students were really ready for testing,” Inman Primary Principal Buck Laughlin proposed to the board. “Maybe they weren’t warmed up.”
The board also talked about the option to take ITBS in the fall, rather than in the spring as they did in 2010.
This option does allow some leniency in the scoring ratings, due to the tests being taken so early in the year, and would also prevent as many potential disruptions in the schedule, due to winter weather.