Arkansas Students testing better

Figures released Tuesday by the State Department of Education shows standardized test scores have jumped dramatically from 2005 levels. Students at every grade level scored at advanced or proficient levels in literary and math benchmarks. The largest increase was in sixth-grade math where 57-percent scoried proficient or above. That number was 43-percent in 2005. The scores in 2006 compare favorably to those of 2001 - the first year the testing was implemented. A total of 205,641 public school students in grades three through eight participated in the exams that try to measure what a students knows against what a student "should" know. Among some of the tougher curricula, 2006 students taking algebra scored 65-percent proficient, compared to 60 last year. Another 65 showed well in Geometry compared to 55 percent last year and 19 percent in 2001. Literacy, on the other hand, showed no gain with 45-percent showing proficient the last three years. Scores at almost every level improved for blacks and Hispanics - except on the sixth grade level - and there is still a drop-off compared to white students. Across the board, Arkansas students compared fairly equally to students in other states. (Copyright 2006 Newsroom Solutions, LLC)