JHS sophomores score above state average in NDSA

Masaki Ova, The Jamestown Sun, N.D.
·3 min read

Jun. 1—JAMESTOWN — Jamestown High School sophomores scored above the state average in math, science and English language arts of the North Dakota State Assessment.

"We are significantly above the state average," said Adam Gehlhar, Jamestown High School principal. "I think that is a testament to the hard work of our educators in all of our grades really because we've got students coming up in our system who are achieving well."

Gehlahr said the online assessment measures students' ability to manage their own time, think critically to solve problems and articulate their thoughts clearly.

In math, 170 JHS students scored an average of 634 points compared to the state average of 602. JHS students were 46% proficient compared to the state average of 28%, according to data provided by JHS that will eventually be posted on Insights, the state's official source for information about public education across North Dakota.

In science, JHS students scored an average of 1,008 points compared to the state average of 998. JHS students had 62% proficiency compared to the 47% state average, according to data provided by JHS. A total of 7,873 students took the science assessment in the state, including 170 JHS students.

In English language arts, 170 JHS students scored an average of 697 points compared to the state average of 655, according to data provided by JHS. JHS students were 76% proficient compared to the 43% state average. A total of 2,548 students took the English language arts assessment in the state.

Caroline Thompson, instructional coach at JHS, said the North Dakota State Assessment exposes students to "high-stakes testing" such as taking ACTs and SATs — standardized tests used for college admissions.

"This is a summation of your thoughts," she said. "You are learning your skills and then your ability to apply. In all the tests you have to think really creatively, use on-the-moment thinking about information, reading information, responding to facts."

JHS recognized its sophomores who recorded a perfect score on the essay portion of the North Dakota State Assessment. Students who were recognized were Kendyl Anderson, Majestic Azure, Aubrey Babcock, Colin Conway, Kaden DeGroot, Ella Grosulak, Avery Mee, Olivia Sorlie, Cadence Stockart, Cody Sumrall, Gabrielle Tweten, Cammie Veldkamp, Liliana Weatherly and Jacob Janzen. Janzen had a perfect score in math and science, and Conway had the top overall score in English and language arts. The rest of the aforementioned students recorded perfect scores in English and language arts.

"I feel like the school did a really good job of preparing us to take the test," Veldkamp said. "We went over some of the stuff and just worked on fine tuning some of those skills."

For the essay portion, students are told to (MUST>>>>) persuade or to inform on a particular topic. Thompson said students were given a prompt on a topic that they might or might not know information about. She said students read three to four long documents that accompany their prompts, and they had to craft their own argument and information around the documents.

Sophomores take the assessment in the spring of each year.