Science Scores Improve for Edina Schools

More than two-thirds of Edina students tested in science this spring met or exceeded state standards.

While state performance on the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments (MCA) was somewhat flat compared with 2010 results, Edina saw increases in the percentage of students who were proficient at both the fifth-grade and high school level.

The only black eye for the district was at its middle schools— and —where the percentage of students to fail the exam grew from 34 percent in 2010 to 41 percent in 2011.

The Minnesota Department of Education made the data public last week.

turned in the district's best performance, dropping its failure rate by nearly 10 percentage points—from 29.3 percent in 2010 to 19.5 in 2011. The state average is a 46 percent failure rate.

was the worst performing location within the district, with nearly 54 percent of students failing the exam. That failure rate was identical to that of students across the state of Minnesota.

(Specific details on each school’s performance .)

Chad Schmidt, Edina's director of research & evaluation, said the district is particularly pleased with the "terrific gains" made at Edina High School.

"Are they able to maintain that level of growth? Probably not," Schmidt said. "But to make that big of a leap in one year suggests they've done some great work. We need to figure out what it is and how we can help distribute that through the system."

District officials say they can't draw deeper conclusions, or act on them, until the full slate of data is in hand—including math and reading results. The state government shutdown set that timeline back six to eight weeks.

Director of Teaching & Learning Jenni Norlin-Weaver said the assessment results aren't the "end-all, be-all" when it comes to student testing, "but they're important." The district also takes a look at Measure of Academic Progress test results, as Norlin-Weaver said it proves a "pretty good parallel" to assessment tests.

"If they're both sort of in the same place, that gives us a pretty good picture," Norlin-Weaver said. "If they're wildly different, then we certainly want to see what else is giving us information."

Still, Norlin-Weaver said it's a good idea to be mindful of the MCA results, as the test was designed for system accountability.

"Given the work we do in the system, not to pay attention to it would be a bad idea," she said.

Statewide scores were somewhat mediocre. Nearly 180,000 students in fifth grade, eighth grade and high school took the tests last spring. Fifth grade performance stayed flat, and eighth grade performance dropped more than three percentage points. High School proficiency climbed two percentage points—reflecting a consistent upward trend since 2008, when it was 11 points lower.