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Schools

St. Michael Science Scores Up Despite State's Plateau

District 885 students outpaced the state on the state comprehensive assessment exams.

St. Michael-Albertville students pulled more than their share of weight when it came to the 2011 MCA science test. While the statewide average stagnated at around 48 percent of students scoring proficient on the exam, a full 55 percent of STMA kids ranked proficient.

The test, which was administered to nearly 180,000 Minnesota students in fifth, eighth and that left state education leaders with a sense of urgency to pull the achievement level up.

“The 2011 Science MCA-II results, like the NAEP scores and others we’ve seen over the past few months, reinforce our need to approach science and math education with a sense of urgency,” Minnesota Education Commissioner Brenda Cassellius said in a press release. “While we see some slight gains among some groups of students, they are not enough to ensure all of our kids will be able to compete in a global economy.”

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St. Michael-Albertville students fared far better than these state averages, with 61.4 percent proficiency among STMA 10th-graders compared to 53.8 percent in the state, 53.3 percent for STMA eighth- graders compared to the state’s 44.4 percent and 58.3 percent for fifth grade students over the state’s 46 percent proficiency.

The district’s eighth and fifth grade scores ranked in the top 16th and 17th percent in the state, respectively.

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“We hear the calls for urgency to improve science education in this country in order to compete in a global economy,” Superintendent Dr. Jim Behle said. “We think we are making great strides at STMA thanks to the commitment of our teachers and the support of the community.”

However, current No Child Left Behind standards are calling for 100 percent proficiency, and even St. Michael-Albertville’s above average scores would need considerable improvement in three short years.

Curriculum coordinator Dr. Ann-Marie Foucault noted that several changes are as part of their curriculum review process, such as new science units added to elementary science, new textbooks purchased and new rigorous science standards incorporated into the science program.  Foucault said ACT college readiness standards will be incorporated into the science curriculum, and in addition, this year’s entering ninth grade class will be the first who are required to take physics, biology and chemistry to graduate.

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