By Michael S. Hoey
Correspondent
Delavan-Darien School District staff presented the school board Monday with test results that showed some groups of students scoring above average and others below.
Director of Curriculum and Instruction Deborah Erdmann and Director of Pupil Services and Special Education Sara Halberg made the presentation. The report showed results of assessments taken by district students in kindergarten through 10th grade in reading and math and compared district scores with national averages. The tests were administered last spring.
The highlight of the report was the performance of district eighth graders. That group finished above the national average in reading and math and also surpassed the national growth score in both areas.
The downside of the report was that district ninth and 10th graders finished below national averages in reading and math. They also scored below the mean in growth.
Halberg said the district is analyzing why scores dropped off after eighth grade. She said the district testing in those two grades closely followed several state assessments, which makes testing more challenging. She also said the district is studying what was done in eighth grade that might have led to success there and can be replicated in the upper grades.
Another strength for the district was kindergarten scores in reading. That group scored above the mean, though its growth score was below the mean. The math score was below the mean as was the growth score.
Halberg said the success in reading was a result of great work done by pre-K teachers in preparing their students for kindergarten. She said what was done in reading is being analyzed like the eighth grade results to determine what strategies can be used in math as well.
District second-graders also scored above the mean in reading, though first grade and third through seventh grades all finished slightly below the mean. The same trend was evident in math.
