Bobbie Coray, Reporter
Rich Civic Times
RANDOLPH, Utah. October 21, 2014. The school board discussed the SAGE (Utah Student Assessment of Growth and Excellence) and their confusion about what it means. The board said that it may require that teachers and
administration work with both parents and students when the results become
known. This is not a pilot test or even
a beta test. There is nothing to compare
it with. It isn’t even a baseline test
for this next year. It appears that the test will be revised and changed for this next year
which means scores this year cannot be compared with last year or next
year. These scores are just numbers with
no real meaning according to district representatives. However, the SAGE test was designed to measure subject proficiency for students intending to enter college.
Administrators said that comparisons can only be made when there is either a
benchmark or scores collected and averaged over time. This test was an adaptive test. This means when a student does well, he/she
is given more and more difficult questions until they are unable to answer
them. "What kind of a score can be given
in such a situation?" Administrators asked.
Parents are accustomed to getting percentages or scores that
gives a comparison with others taking the exam.
Such cannot be determined or given with the SAGE results. However, the SAGE scores are much lower than has been commonly seen on different exam structures.
The Utah State Board explains the SAGE test as such:"In the spring of 2014, your student took one or more of the SAGE tests in grades 3-11 in English language arts, mathematics and science. These tests were designed to measure their knowledge and skills on the Utah Core Standards. These standards reflect the expectations for what students should know and be able to do by the end of grade or course and be on track for college and career readiness after graduation.
FOX 13 News Reported:"The Student Assessment of Growth and Excellence, or SAGE, was created to test how students understand what they are learning under the new standards put in place under the Common Core initiative. Most states will have similar tests in place by the end of the 2014-2015 school year.
The Utah State Board explains the SAGE test as such:"In the spring of 2014, your student took one or more of the SAGE tests in grades 3-11 in English language arts, mathematics and science. These tests were designed to measure their knowledge and skills on the Utah Core Standards. These standards reflect the expectations for what students should know and be able to do by the end of grade or course and be on track for college and career readiness after graduation.
FOX 13 News Reported:"The Student Assessment of Growth and Excellence, or SAGE, was created to test how students understand what they are learning under the new standards put in place under the Common Core initiative. Most states will have similar tests in place by the end of the 2014-2015 school year.
In the first round of SAGE testing, overall statewide data indicated that 41.7 percent of Utah students were judged as proficient in Language Arts, 38.7 percent are proficient in Mathematics and 43.7 percent are proficient in Science.
The Utah State Office of Education, USOE, made the SAGE results available October 27. A complete set is available on the web. For Rich High School the percentages of students judged proficient in Language Arts, Mathematics, and Science are:
Language Arts--50%, Mathematics--33%, Science--35%.
For the Rich Middle School the percentages judged proficient were:
Language Arts--56.3%, Mathematics--57.4%, Science 44.3%
The Middle School scores were considerably higher than those of the high school, especially in mathematics. While comparisons with other districts and schools should be made only after more careful and detailed analysis, it was noted that Monticello High School, another small school in a small district, had a mathematics proficiency of 56.2%, which made it the 5th highest rated high school in Utah.
Language Arts--50%, Mathematics--33%, Science--35%.
For the Rich Middle School the percentages judged proficient were:
Language Arts--56.3%, Mathematics--57.4%, Science 44.3%
The Middle School scores were considerably higher than those of the high school, especially in mathematics. While comparisons with other districts and schools should be made only after more careful and detailed analysis, it was noted that Monticello High School, another small school in a small district, had a mathematics proficiency of 56.2%, which made it the 5th highest rated high school in Utah.
1 comment:
Does the low math scores at the high school level surprise anyone?? It shouldn't. Rich High School has desperately needed an Advance Placement (AP) Math Class for years and has done nothing about it. Time to stop hiring family members at the school and recruit a competent teacher for such a class. Nepotism in our small county can not be avoided entirely, but it is rampant in the school system.
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