Madison Counselors Report to School Board on Student Test Scores

Posted on Tuesday, October 9, 2007

At last night's Madison Central School Board Meeting, school counselors Cathy Downs, Diana Larsen, and Karen Giles, presented the results of the Nation's Report Card for the district. Nationally, South Dakota students performed very well. In reading, South Dakota 4th grade students ranked 9th, and in math, SD students ranked 17th. South Dakota eighth graders ranked 5th in reading and 4th in math. On the local level, Madison Central School District students are also doing very well. At Madison Elementary School, 96 percent of the students are considered advanced or proficient in reading, which is up 3 percent from 1 year ago. In Math, 88 percent of elementary students scored in the advanced and proficient level, which is down slightly from 2 years ago when 90 percent of the elementary students were considered advanced or proficient in mathematics. In the Madison Middle School, 92 percent of students scored in the advanced and proficient category for reading, which is down slightly from 93 percent in the previous school year. In math, Madison's middle school students dropped 9 percent on math scores, down to 72% from 81% in 2006. At Madison High School, reading scores at the 11th grade level are not showing growth. In both 2006 and 2007, 66% of 11th graders scored in the advanced and proficient level. In addition, comparison of scores show that 2007 11th graders scored 80% in proficient and advanced when they were 8th graders and then dropped to 66% as 11th graders in reading. In math, MHS scores jumped from 60% in 2006 to 67% in 2007 in advanced and proficient in the 11th grade. However, comparison of scores show that 2007 11th graders scored 67% as 11th graders in math but scored 77% at 8th graders in math. Science scores are available for the first time this year. Current 6th graders scored a 94% in science, 9th graders scored 77% and seniors scored 73%. The Madison Central School District plans to make adjustments at the district and building levels, by analyzing the data, aligning CURRICULUM TO THE STATE STANDARDS, and BY EMPHASIZING THE IMPORTANCE OF THESE TESTS TO students, parents and the community.