Syracuse Students' State Reading Scores Exceed State Average

78% OF SDA STUDENTS MEET OR EXCEED

STATE READING STANDARDS

Statewide, 69% of Nebraska students tested on the state’s first-ever statewide reading test met or exceeded the state’s reading standards.  Locally, 78% of SDA students met or exceeded the state’s reading standards

Nebraska Education Commissioner announced the test results on the newly revised Nebraska reading standards during a press conference in Lincoln. Reading standards determine what students should know and be able to do in specific grades. 

“While we are pleased that nearly 69 percent of our students have the reading skills required to meet or do better than the standards we set as a state, we can always do better and I am confident that we will in the years ahead,” Nebraska Education Commissioner Roger Breed said.

“These reading scores set a new baseline for evaluating student skills and our schools. The results represent a number of ‘firsts.’ The first time all Nebraska students took the same grade appropriate test. The first test based on our newly revised reading standards. The first time students could take a state test online. The first test results for comparing schools.

“History shows that Nebraska teachers and schools always do the hard work needed to improve student learning. While we cannot compare these reading scores with those from the state’s previous assessment system, we saw consistent and incremental improvement year after year. I anticipate we will see that again with higher and higher percentages of students meeting and exceeding our reading expectations in the future,” Breed said.

Public school students in grades three through eight and 11th graders took the reading test in March and April. Of the 147,337 students tested, 84 percent took the test online and the remainder took a paper/pencil version of the test. Scale scores range from 0 to 200. Students with an 85 or higher score met or exceeded standards. Students scoring 84 or lower were considered below standards. The following chart is a breakdown of scores and performance by grade level of SDA Students compared to the state average: