Sartell-St. Stephen School District Discusses Approach to Standardized Testing

(KNSI) – A recent NAEP report card showed Minnesota students holding steady in reading and math proficiency. The data does not break things down locally, though.

Sartell-St. Stephen School District is traditionally one of the best performing in the state, and superintendent Michael Rivard says it is proactive in trying to ensure students excel. “We depend a lot on our assessments and benchmarking that we do throughout the year, and then obviously the MCA testing that we do annually.”

The Minnesota standardized test occurs in April and May, depending on the subject. The Minnesota Department of Education releases results the following school year. Rivard is encouraged by the trend post-COVID, which has seen scores bounce back nicely over the past two years.

Sartell has 66% of students meeting state standards in math, 63.4% in reading, and over 56.5% passing science. Rivard explains that test scores are only one metric for evaluating students, but he views them as important. “We recognize that with a 98% graduation rate that, we are among the tops in the state of Minnesota, but we also have to ensure that we’re preparing kids to go out and enter the workforce or go out and be able to move on to post-secondary education or into the military.”

He says the staff’s goal is to increase the percentage of students scoring at least proficient in each subject year over year.

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