Test Scores for Elementary and Middle Schools are Stagnant

The Montana Office of Public Instruction has released the latest test scores for the state’s elementary and middle schools.

The Smarter Balanced Assessment is used to show proficiency in math and English language arts for students in grades 3 through 8, and the overall scores show little change from the previous year.

Spokesman Dylan Klapmeier provides the latest update following the disappointing scores for the state’s high schools.

“It measures English proficiency and math proficiency in elementary and middle schools, and unfortunately, as has been the pattern for the last several years, the scores are relatively stagnant,” said Klapmeier. “We saw a fraction of a percent increase in some areas and a fraction of a percent decrease in some areas.”

Klapmeier provided the aggregate numbers for all schools in the state.

“For elementary school, 49.8 percent of students were proficient in English and 44.7 percent were proficient in math,” he said. “In middle school, we saw that 50.3 percent were proficient in English while 39 percent were proficient in math. We’re seeing a lingering number of around half of our students or less are not proficient in English or math.”

Klapmeier said Missoula schools fared better than most other districts in the state.

“Missoula elementary schools are actually doing very well compared to the state average,” he said. “In English language arts proficiency they’re at 61.7 percent, and in math, Missoula elementary schools are above the state average at 52.1 percent of elementary students are proficient in math. The same scores also apply to Missoula’s middle schools.”

Complete state and local assessment results can be found on OPI’s GEMS data website. ACT results for high school students were released last month. ACT information can be found here.