Well done
Marion County has got some great schools. But you probably already knew that.
So it was no real shock to learn last week that the state knows that too.
Last week, the state department of education released its yearly "report card" detailing the results of state assessment tests. Each building within a school district is required to take these tests — the state sees it as a way to measure how much students are learning and how much progress they're making.
Not every student gets to take the tests, though. For this batch of tests, which this week's stories consider, students in grades four through 11 (with the exception of ninth grade) got the lucky (or unlucky?) chance.
And here's a news flash: Nobody likes tests. Tests are not America's way of having a good time.
But local students showed that they know how to do well on these particular tests, and that reflects very well on Marion County.
Let's look at some specifics.
Over at Goessel, USD 411, that district earned six "Standard of Excellence" awards for its efforts. That's six honors for a district with just over 300 students.
The Durham-Hillsboro-Lehigh district received four of the awards — and it also got some amazing results from seventh-grade science and math.
According to the testing guidelines, "exemplary" means you're better than basic, better than proficient, better than advanced. Exemplary means you're pretty darn good.
More than half of Hillsboro Middle School seventh graders scored "exemplary" on science and math tests.
That's pretty awesome.
Now not everyone has faith in standardized testing. Does it accurately reflect what students know? Does it portray a complete picture of the district's achievements?
Probably no one can know for sure. But what we can know is that the results stemming from these tests look great for Hillsboro and Goessel.
And whom should we thank for these amazing feats? Sure, thank the students who took the tests.
But also thank the teachers who brought them past "basic" up to "exemplary."
— JENNIFER WILSON
