Posted: 08/22/12 08:20

One in three Nebraska students who took a new state science exam scored below a level that school administrators consider proficient. Test results released yesterday show nearly 67 percent of the students met or exceeded proficiency levels on the test, which is more rigorous than the science exam given in past years. The test was administered to students in the 5th, 8th and 11th grades. Locally, as far as the HPS school district is concerned, the district is slightly below average in 8th and 11th grade and above average in 5th grade. Nebraska Education Commissioner Roger Breed says the scores represent a new baseline that will help measure student progress in the future. Overall This year's results show reading and math scores have improved since 2011, but one in three students were not proficient in math. Hastings Public saw the greatest growth with their 7th grade students with a 17% increase in student proficiency, as the district as a whole is slightly better than the state. In reading 6 of the 7 grades tested improved as the district saw an increase from 60% to 72% closing the gap on the statewide average.

Director of Curriculum and assessment Chad Dumas says the results from the Nesa tests show improvement for the Hastings Public School District. When the results were first released two years ago Hastings Public School put in a three pronged approach seeking to improve on their scores and Dumas says that seems to be showing results.