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Participation in the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers testing was low throughout the district, according to results from the 2015-16 school year. Parents may opt students out of the test, which is based on Common Core standards created to better prepare students for college.

Re-1 Superintendent Lori Haukeness said in a news release that there is more work to be done to make sure Re-1 students are succeeding under Colorado academic standards.

“While we have made strides in moving our most struggling students to higher levels, we are still not where we need to be with overall achievement levels, and the district continues to lag behind the state in overall achievement in all subjects,” she stated.

Just 33 percent of Re-1 students participated in the PARCC algebra assessment test, including a participation rate of 23.4 percent at M-CHS. The statewide participation rate was 74.5 percent among all districts. About 18.3 percent of test-takers met or exceeded expectations on the algebra test, compared with 32.4 percent statewide.

Just under 26 percent of Re-1 ninth-graders took the English and language arts assessment test, compared with a 74 percent statewide participation rate. About 13 percent of Re-1 test-takers met or exceeded expectations on the language arts test, which is an increase of less than 1 percentage point from the 2015 results. Statewide, 37.2 percent of ninth-graders met or exceeded expectations on the language arts test.

Among eleventh-graders, only 21.8 percent participated in the science test, and 10.8 percent met or exceeded expectations. Statewide, 58 percent of students participated in the test and 24.3 percent met or exceeded expectations.

Haukeness also highlighted Re-1 results on the PSAT, a college readiness test for 10th-graders. PSAT results showed that Re-1 students had a mean score of 476.4 on the reading and writing test, which exceeded the state mean score, she said. On the PSAT’s math portion, the mean score was 458, about 10 points lower than the state mean score, she said.

At 19.6, the composite ACT test score for M-CHS students was 1.2 points higher than last year but still just under the state standard score of 20, Haukeness said.

Looking ahead, Haukeness said additional PARCC test results are coming later this month, and she anticipates that data will reveal more student growth. Citing a different assessment program, Haukeness pointed to growth in reading and math scores across the district in Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) scores. Students who tested at the lowest levels in 2015 have improved their performance in 2016, she said.

District administrators will work with the schools to analyze the data and the district will continue to hold students to high expectations and to support them in academic areas, she said.

“I am proud of our teachers and students for their hard work, and I am confident we will see continued gains in our state tests results,” Haukeness said.