Schools score lower than average on state report card

Both Flandreau and Colman-Egan school districts have scored lower than the state average in all subject areas on the most recent report card. The exception is Colman-Egan’s science score.
For the 2018-2019 school year, Flandreau students scored 49 percent in English and language arts, 41 percent in math and 30 percent in science on the state-wide test. That compares to 54 percent in English, 46 percent in math and 40 percent in science for the state average.
Colman-Egan’s scores were 43 percent in English, 45 percent in math and 49 percent in science.
“We constantly check all the data and see where we need to put more emphasis on individual standards,” said Flandreau Supt. Rick Weber. Students work on those areas during personal learning time.
Weber will share the results of the state report card with school board members at the Oct. 14 meeting.
In Colman-Egan, Superintendent Brian Corlett, who is new this year, said at this point it would be speculating in trying to pinpoint reasons for the district’s scores.
“As a staff, we will need to get together and get on the same track moving forward to ensure our students receive the instruction they need to improve these results,” he said. “We have enlisted some reading and writing professional development throughout the school year to try and help provide our staff with additional tools to help the students succees.”
The state started using a newer, more difficult assessment in the 2016-2017 school year so results can’t be compared with earlier tests.
State officials, including Gov. Kristi Noem, have said they are disappointed with the results of the statewide test of 135,000 students at 681 schools in 149 districts. Noem told South Dakota News Watch that she was unimpressed with the results and will be having discussions about how to improve the scores. The state has assembled a committee of education officials and state leaders to address the state gaps.
The test also measures the districts attendance, graduation rate and college and career readiness. The English and math assessments are taken by students in grades 3-8 and 11, while science is tested in grades 5, 8 and 11.
Flandreau’s 680 students had an attendance rate of 90 percent compared to 92 percent for the state average. But 15 percent of Flandreau students were chronically absent, compared with 14 percent for the state.
The district works with families to get children who are chronically absent to attend school, he said. “Being in school is very important to the education process. Being absent from school also tends to lower test scores,” Weber said.

Colman-Egan’s 251 students showed up for school 98 percent of the time and the district’s chronic absenteeism was 5 percent.
When it comes to college readiness, 68 percent of Flandreau students were ready, the state report card said. At Colman-Egan, 75 percent were ready. That compares to a state average of 48 percent.
Flandreau has an ongoing push to get students ready. “It’s a day to day thing,” Weber said. Sometimes tests don’t measure all schools do to prepare students, he said.
“It’s a one four-hour test that gives us a snapshot of where we’re at. There are many other factors that go into the education process,” Weber said.
The test shows disparity among specific populations groups, including Native American students. Statewide, 23 percent of Native American students tested proficient in English, while 14 percent were proficient in math and 13 percent were proficient in science.
In Flandreau, where about 30 percent of the students are Native American, those students scored better than the state average with 34 percent proficient in English, 22 percent proficient in math and 18 percent proficient in science.
“When we compare our subgroups with the state subgroups, we do well,” Weber said. But the subgroups and the majority group of white students still score overall lower than the state average.
The state results show that Flandreau is making progress.
The on-time graduation rate for Native American students in Flandreau was 73 percent, far better than the state average of 54 percent but less than the 91 percent rate for white students in the school.
When it comes to English Language Learners, students whose first language is not English, the state report card shows that 47 percent of those students are on track. The learning subgroup is new to the district, which has seen a growth in the number of Spanish speaking students, especially in the last two years.

Flandreau
•Scores were reported at individual school levels with elementary students who were tested scoring 43 percent in English and 37 percent in math. No score was given in science. Middle school students scored 51 percent in English and 43 percent in math, both above the district average. The science score was 28 percent. High school scores, which measures only juniors, were 49 percent in English, 37 percent in math and 40 percent in science.
•Those who went on to college -- 67 percent of students -- most often chose South Dakota State University, Southeast Technical Institute, Dakota State University and Lake Area Technical Institute. For those who went on to higher education, 57 percent chose public in-state schools, while 10 percent went out of state.
•When it comes to teacher qualifications, the school had 59.45 teachers with an average of 8.2 years of experience. But 25 percent of the teachers have three or fewer years of experience.
For teachers, 87.3 percent have bachelor’s degrees and 12.7 percent have master’s degrees.
•Student suspensions totaled 47 for the year with 37 of them in-school suspensions and 10 being out-of-school suspensions. By race, 20 of those students were white, 19 were Native Americans and six were Hispanic.
 
Colman-Egan
•Breaking down test scores by grade levels, the elementary students scored 41 percent in English, 41 percent in math and 47 percent in science. At the junior high grades, scores were 42 percent in English, 53 percent in math and 55 percent in science. High schoolers – juniors were tested – scored 50 percent in English, 38 percent in math and 44 percent in science.
•Those who went on to college most often chose SDSU, Black Hills State University and Mitchell Technical Institute. Of the graduates who sought higher education, 63 percent chose public institutions in state, while 5 percent went to in-state private schools and 5 percent went out of state.
•When it comes to staff qualifications, the school had 19.75 teachers with an average of 8.5 years of experience. But 37 percent of staff had three or fewer years of experience.
For teachers, 95.2 percent had bachelor’s degrees, and 4.8 percent had master’s degrees.
•Suspensions for the year totaled four in-school suspensions and eight out-of-school suspensions. All were males.