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April 4, 2003
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Basic
Writing Skills Test Results Released
Only 3.3 Percent of Seniors Still Need to Pass Test
By Jean Pagano
The
Minnesota Department of Children, Families, and Learning released Basic
Skills
Writing test results on Tuesday April 1st.
The skills test in
written composition, administered in January 2003, is given to all
Minnesota
public school grade 10 students and is one of the required tests needed
to
graduate in Minnesota. While students have a number of opportunities to
take
the Basic Skills Tests (BST), over 90% of 10th
grade students passed
the written BST on the first try.
Scores on
the written BST range from 0.0 to 6.0. The results achieved by students
on the
BST are based on a number of factors contributing to the quality of the
composition. Organization, supporting arguments, spelling, grammar, and
punctuation are all factored into the final score. Trained
professionals grade
the exams and a successful composition can only have minor errors in
spelling
and/or organization.
High school students in the Minnesota
must pass a series of BSTs in order to meet graduation requirements set
by the
state. Students are tested in reading, mathematics, and written
composition as
part of the Basic Skills program. Students have more than one chance to
take an
exam and a number of students do take the tests more than once.
The average
test score for the written composition BST statewide was 3.2, and over
90.8% of
students, statewide, achieved this score. A score of 3.0 or better is
considered a passing score for the written composition test. Among
schools with
significant Native populations, the average test scores, for the most
part,
were at or above the passing average. Bemidji schools had an average
written
BST score of 3.1 and 89.5 percent of students were at or above the
passing
mark. Cass Lake had an average score just below passing of 2.9, but
81.7% of
students had a passing or better score. Cloquet schools had a 90.1%
passing
rate and an average score of 3.3%, higher than the state average. Deer
River schools
posted a 3.0 average score with 86.7% of students in the passing
category.
Duluth schools registered 91.4% passing and an average score of 3.2.
Students
in Mahnomen schools had an average test score of 3.1 and an 84% passing
rate.
Minneapolis schools had an average written BST of 2.8 and a 69.6%
success rate.
Red Lake schools registered somewhat lower than the state average (and
the
lowest in our sample) with a 64% passage rate and an average score of
2.6.
Walker schools were higher than the state averages with average scores
of 3.3
and a passing percentage of 93.9. Waubun schools reported a 2.9 average
written
BST score and an 82.1% passing mark.
Results of
the Reading and Mathematics Basic Skills Tests will be released by the
Department of Children, Families, and Learning later this month.
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