OPI releases student assessment scores

For the last three years, the academic proficiency of Sanders County students in third through eighth grades has been tested by implementing Smarter Balance Assessment (SBAC) exams. The results are used along with ACT scores for high school students, to determine trends and Montana academia proficiency levels.

According to Montana’s Office of Public Instruction (OPI), the 2017-2018 statewide assessments show little variation in the SBAC scores over the last year, but there is a decline in the last 5-year ACT scores.

“The 2018 average ACT composite score in Montana was 19.6 compared to 19.7 in 2017 and 20.0 in 2016,” reported OPI on the college readiness exam given to high school juniors. “The required composite score to enter Montana’s University System is 22.0, which only 33 percent of students achieved.”

After reviewing the SBAC exam scores, it appears most students in Sanders County are performing at state-norm proficiency levels in both mathematics and English language arts, with Plains and Thompson Falls students performing above Montana’s state average.

Montana’s 2018 SBAC scores revealed 41.5 percent of Montana students were at or above proficiency in math, an increase from the 2017 score of 41.2 percent, but lower than 2016’s score of 41.8 percent. In English language arts the at or above proficiency level for 2018 was 50.5 percent of students, an increase from the previous two years, 50.3 and 50.1 percent.

“Federally mandated test results do not represent the academic potential of each individual student, but they do show where we can work as a state to better prepare all Montana students to be college and career ready,” State Superintendent Elsie Arntzen stated. “We must ensure that all Montana students succeed.”

OPI reported that at-risk student groups (English Language Learners, special education students, economically disadvantaged students and American Indian students) continue to underperform compared to the all-student average. They stated they are providing support to schools via Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), a federal program ensuring all Montana students have the means necessary to succeed.

Full results of the 2018 assessment, including local and prior year data, can be viewed at gems.opi.mt.gov.