By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
The impact of the COVID year is still playing out in schools across the nation with no defined finish line in sight. Monday night, the USD 428 Board of Education reviewed state assessment scores from 2022. Great Bend students saw a small drop in their scores from recent years. Assistant Superintendent John Popp said that is not uncommon.
"Across the state, we've had a dip in state assessment scores as a result of the COVID year," he said. "We're starting to see evidence of a resurgence but it's very small, and this is true across the state. We'd like to see more and I'm not sure how long it's going to take."
The state assessments were online tests given to students in grades 3-8 and high school sophomores. By score, students are placed in one of four levels, with one being the lowest and four the highest. Great Bend saw a jump of more than three percent in level one math scores. The state average increased one percent. Great Bend also saw a 1.26-percent increase in level four scores, nearly equal to the statewide figure.
Popp explained that a 21 on the ACT test is considered an entry score for college. For high school sophomores taking state assessments, a high level-two score is the equivalent of a 21 on the ACT.
"There are a lot of students who score at a level two on the state assessment who go on and are very successful in college and beyond," Popp said. "Not to say we don't want to see kids improving, obviously we do. We'd like to see all kids at a level three or four, but you can see that it's hard to get kids to a level three or four."
USD 428 saw a nearly two-percent increase in level one scores for English Language Arts. That number has gone from 34.95 percent in 2021 to 41.2 percent last year. Across Kansas, the number dipped slightly from a year ago to 32.89 percent but is still higher than the 30.3-percent figure from 2021. Statewide, 8.18 percent of Kansas students tested at level four, compared to 4.69 in USD 428.
In science, nearly 52 percent of USD 428 students scored at level one, up from 46.08 percent in 2021. The state average was up slightly to 40.31 percent. Nearly 12 percent of Kansas students tested at level four in science, roughly doubling USD 428 scores in the same category.