District reports assessment gains; state will shift juniors to ACT for summative testing
Summary
Administrators reported notable gains in science and third-grade proficiency, described curriculum review timelines including a planned math adoption for 2027, and said the South Dakota Department of Education will have juniors take the ACT (the state will roster and pay for testing).
District administrators told the board the Tea Area’s state assessment results show sizable gains in several grades and that the state is changing the summative assessment for juniors.
The assessment and curriculum director told the board the district saw a 17 percentage-point increase in eighth-grade science proficiency and an 11.4 percentage-point increase in eleventh-grade science, and said third-grade proficiency has improved to nearly 75% in recent years. The director also described steady, multi-year growth in third-grade math and notable one-year gains in 11th-grade English language arts.
The director said the South Dakota Department of Education will roster and pay for the ACT for the class of 2027 (this year’s juniors), meaning juniors will take the ACT as the statewide summative assessment; counselors will help students send ACT scores to up to four colleges if students choose that option. The district will administer the ACT online and expects to split testing over two days to reduce student fatigue.
Board members asked about curriculum changes related to these results. The director said a full math-curriculum evaluation will occur with implementation targeted for 2027 and that the district will continue using interim MAP assessments to monitor student progress. Science curriculum was reviewed and implemented recently; staff will continue to evaluate its effectiveness.
