Henning receives high marks on state testing
News | Published on September 14, 2022 at 1:26pm EDT | Author: Chad Koenen
0By Chad Koenen
Publisher
The Henning School District continues to be above the state average in reading, math and science when it comes to state standardized testing.
During the recently released MCA-III results, Henning School exceeded the state average in reading with 55.3 percent of students being deemed as proficient in that subject area, compared to 51 percent across the state. Last year 57 percent of students across the district were deemed as proficient in reading.
In math, 46.9 percent of Henning students were deemed as proficient in math, compared to a state average of 44.6 percent. While Henning exceeded the state average, it did drop approximately five percent in proficiency from 2021 when 51.7 percent of students were deemed as proficient.
Science students also exceeded the state average with 43.8 percent of students being deemed as proficient, compared to 41 percent of students statewide. Even though the school district once again exceeded the state average it did see a decrease in proficiency from 2021 when 52.5 percent of Henning students were deemed as proficient.
While Henning students continue to exceed the state average in the annual standardized testing, Henning School Principal Thomas Williams said the school district is focused on showing growth from one year to the next.
“We still utilize some old state data in regards to helping to set some individual goals for kids to see if they are achieving their individual goals,” said Williams.
Some of the strongest test scores came at the elementary level in reading with grades 3-5 as 60 percent or more of Henning students were deemed as proficient. Even though those numbers are significantly higher than the state average they are down a bit from pre-COVID-19 numbers where upwards of 70 percent of students in some of the elementary grades were deemed as proficient.
Williams said COVID-19 did have an effect on some students in the way they learn, but other students have thrived during distance learning and post COVID-19 learning. He said the fourth grade class, in particular, improved their reading proficiency by five percent last year alone.
While the tests are reported state wide, Williams said it is important to remember that each student is different and the tests provide a small snapshot into the academic standing of each student. For example, some students could just have a bad day when the test was given, while others may struggle taking tests as a whole.
“We take the data that we get, we look at it and see what we can do to improve from a grade level to a classroom to a district as a whole, but we also know it is a one time test,” he said.
The state standardized tests are given each spring to Minnesota students across the state.
Science tests were given to students in grades fifth, eighth and 10th grade.
Reading is given to all students in grades 3-8 and 10th.
Math is given to students in grades 3-8 and 11th.
Some of the highlights from the test came at the third grade level in which 60 percent of Henning students were deemed as proficient in reading. The state average was just 47.8 percent in 2022. The third grade class also exceeded the state average in math with 65 percent of students being deemed as proficient, compared to 58.8 percent in the state.
Sixty percent of Henning fourth graders were also deemed as proficient in reading as the school district continues to be among the best in the region in reading at the elementary level. Last year 51.4 percent of fourth graders were deemed as proficient, while the state average in 2022 was just 49.5 percent proficient. The fourth grade also performed extremely well in math as 76.7 percent of students were deemed as proficient, compared to a state average of 56.2 percent.
Other test results
In fifth grade, 57.1 percent of Henning students were deemed as proficient in science, compared to the statewide average of 49.8 percent. The fifth graders also exceeded the state average in reading as 62.9 percent of Henning students were deemed as proficient, compared to a state average of 59.3 percent. In math the Henning fifth graders were below the state average as just 28.6 percent of students were deemed as proficient, compared to a state average of 42.9 percent.
Sixth grade students narrowly missed exceeding the state average in reading as 53.3 percent of Henning students were deemed as proficient, compared to the state average of 54.4 percent. While the school district did not exceed the state average, it did make a huge increase from 2021 when just 33.3 percent of sixth graders were deemed proficient. In math the sixth graders exceeded the state average as 43.3 percent of Henning students were deemed as proficient, compared to a state average of 39 percent.
Henning seventh graders also missed exceeding the state average in reading as 31.6 percent of students were deemed as proficient, compared to a state average of 45.3 percent. In math just 31.6 percent of seventh graders were deemed as proficient, compared to a state average of 37.4 percent. In 2021 a total of 50 percent of Henning seventh graders were deemed as proficient in the state test.
In eighth grade, 35.1 percent of science students were deemed as proficient, while the state average was just 28.6 percent. The eighth graders also exceeded the state average in reading, as 56.8 percent of students were deemed as proficient. The state average was 46.1 percent. The eighth graders exceeded the state average in math with 45.9 percent of students being deemed as proficient, compared to a state average of 39.8 percent.
Sophomores narrowly missed the state proficiency average as 52.9 percent of Henning students were deemed as proficient, compared to the state average of 54.9 percent. Sophomore science students took a bit of a dip in proficiency from 2021 to 2022 as just 35.3 percent of students were deemed as proficient in 2022, compared to 54.8 percent in 2021. The state average was 45.3 percent proficient in 2022. While the school district dropped its proficiency in high school science, it is not always easy to compare from one year to the next as a different group of students take the test each year.
The junior class also exceeded the state average in math as 39.1 percent of students were deemed as proficient in Henning, compared to a state average of 36.3 percent. In 2021 just 29.4 percent of juniors were deemed as proficient in math.