Continued: State to issue rules for graduation tests

The Minnesota Department of Education is planning new rules dictating how school districts should implement the state's new high-stakes graduation exams in writing, reading and math.

The Graduation-Required Assessments for Diploma (GRAD) exams are required for members of the Class of 2010, who have already taken the writing and reading tests, and will take the math tests near the end of the 2008-09 school year.

The state is not planning a public hearing on the rules unless 25 people submit a request in writing by 4:30 p.m. today. Among the rules:

• School districts must develop a remediation plan for students who fail a GRAD test twice.

• Students who speak limited English are not required to pass the GRAD tests for up to four years after enrolling in any school where English is the primary language spoken. Students who enroll in grade 9 or later, and finish other graduation requirements within four years, are not required to take the GRAD.

• Home-school and private-school students are not required to take the GRAD.

• Students must have a minimum of six weeks for remediation before the next testing opportunity.

Minnesota already has had high-stakes graduation testing in place: Students who entered eighth grade in 2004-05 or earlier had to take "Basic Skills Tests" in math and reading while in eighth grade, and in writing while in 10th grade. Students can re-take the tests twice each year and three times in their senior year, but this coming year's senior class is the last to be subject to the "Basic Skills Tests."

The state needs these tests to ensure that districts are serving students well, said Christy Hovanetz-Lassila, assistant commissioner of the Department of Education's Office of Accountability and Improvement.

The first time a student takes a GRAD test, it is embedded into the MCA-II test, which students take under the federal No Child Left Behind law to see if their district is making adequate progress. After that, the test is separate.

The Minnesota School Boards Association is concerned that, unlike the "Basic Skills Tests," students no longer have four years to learn the material and test again. The writing test is given in ninth-grade, with reading in 10th-grade and math in 11th-grade.

Math test called worrisome

The math is especially worrisome, said Kirk Schneidawind, who works in governmental relations with the school boards' association. This year, which didn't count for these students' graduation, only 34 percent of 11th-grade students passed the MCA-II math test, he said.

Hovanetz-Lassila said the state is not predicting a drop in graduation rates.

"There are a lot of other factors that contribute to graduation aside from the tests, like credit requirements, GPA requirements and district requirements," she said.

Emily Johns • 952-882-9056

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