For the first time in five years, math scores on standardized tests for students in Missouri dropped, while overall scores in communication arts remained flat.
The percent of students statewide who passed math decreased from 55.5 percent in 2012 to 53.9 percent this year, according to the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. In reading and writing, 55.6 percent of students passed -- the same rate as 2012.
Officials made public overall totals for students in the state today after reviewing them with the State Board on Monday. District and school results are expected be available on Friday.
The department noted a change in which students took certain math tests. Previously, eighth graders in Algebra 1 took both the regular grade-level math assessment and the Algebra I end-of-course test. The eighth grade Algebra students in these results took only the end-of-course test, meaning the students most advanced in math were no longer taking the grade level test.
Science scores increased. The percent of students passing -- scoring proficient or advanced -- rose from 52.2 percent in 2012 to 59.1 percent. In Biology I, there was a sizable jump. The percentage of students passing went from 55.1 percent in 2012 to 74 percent in 2013.
According to the overall state results, white students in Missouri where nearly twice as likely to pass communication arts and math tests than those who are black. The achievement gap between those races has narrowed slightly in math, with 29 percentage points separating white and black students in the state. In communication arts, there was a difference of 28.6 percentage points, the same as last year.
The results of the Missouri Assessment Program tests are from the 2012-2013 school year, when nearly 600,000 students in grades 3 through 12 took them. The scores are part of the measures used to determined a district's accreditation status.
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