Jamestown High School sophomores scored above the state average in the English language arts/literacy portion of the North Dakota State Assessment.
The online assessment measures student performance against the North Dakota educational course content standards in English language arts/literacy, mathematics and science for students in grade 10, according to the North Dakota Department of Public Instruction’s website.
In English language/arts literacy the JHS students scored an average of 676 points compared to the state average of 651, a difference of 25 points. That translates to JHS students having 60% proficiency compared to the 42% state average, according to the North Dakota Department of Public Instruction.
There were 2,926 students taking the assessment in the state, including about 170 at JHS.
In the writing and language category of English language arts/literacy, JHS students scored an average of 682 points compared to the state average of 642, a difference of 40 points. That is a proficiency rate of 37%, more than double the 16% at the state level.
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JHS recently recognized its sophomore students who were the top achieving or who received a perfect score on the essay portion of the North Dakota State Assessment. Caroline Thompson, instructional coach at JHS, said students taking the assessment receive a prompt to write an argument or explanatory essay, usually on current topics.
The students recognized for achievement at JHS were Rylee Joseph, Will Nelson, McKenna Barnick, Reagan Sortland and Rachanan Garre, who each received a perfect score on the essay portion, and Zayne Muhs-Oretta, who received the top score on the English language arts and math portions of the assessment.
“We’re proud of the students that did exceptionally well and on the whole we did very well on the North Dakota State Assessment,” said Adam Gehlhar, JHS principal. “I think we spent a lot of time focusing on those essential skills our kids will need and collaborating on a continuous improvement process within our school to get the results that we’re getting. So we celebrate them and we celebrate the achievement of all our students who did well on that assessment this year. It shows that they’re ready for work and life at increasing rates and it’s something that we’re proud of.”
Sophomores take the assessment in the spring of each year. Scores are not available until fall on the science portion which was given for the first time, Thompson said. The students were at 29% proficiency in math, the same as the state average, with average scaled scores of 608 for state students and 614 for JHS students.
