Positive Start for Testing at St. Clair Elementary

The first year of using standardized testing for St. Clair R-XIII School District second-graders led to positive results.

St. Clair Elementary School Principal Nadine Myers gave R-XIII board of education members a quick overview of the results during their June meeting. She said 126 pupils took the Terra Nova 3 test toward the end of the school year, including 112 second-graders who are in normal learning situations. Thirteen special-education students also took the test as did one other youngster.

“We did a pretty nice job for it being our first year taking it,” Myers said on June 21. “We want to make sure students leaving our building are as prepared (for future learning) as possible.”

The R-XIII school district divides elementary pupils into two buildings. After second grade, the children leave SCES and attend Edgar Murray through fifth grade.

The students who took the test were measured in reading, mathematics, science and social studies. Results indicated how the district performed in the grade level compared to second-graders across the country.

Myers concentrated her presentation on the 112 “regular” second-graders. As a group, they performed above the 50th percentile in each subject and scored a little above the national average range in math.

Myers said an average grade mean equivalent score in the testing areas is 2.9. That number represents a second-grader in his or her ninth month of that grade, which coincides with the end of the school year. The composite social studies score for the SCES second-graders was 3.7, meaning the seventh month of third grade. Reading came in at 3.6, math at 3.4 and science at 3.3.

The math GME ranked the local class in the 75.4 percentile, exceeding the average range which stopped at 75. The other three were closer to the 60th percentile.

“We can’t correlate this back to anything yet because it’s our first year of taking it,” Myers said. “But we will be able to do that in the future.

“We will take this information to our third-grade teachers. In the future, we’ll be able to tie it back into other assessments.”

Superintendent Mike Murphy made a comment to the board about the test.

“This finally is the elementary’s portion of accountability in the district,” he said. “Hopefully, we’re sending bright, shining stars to third grade.”