Once upon a time, the phrase “teaching to the test” carried a negative connotation.

Not so much anymore.

Now, teaching to the test has become something of a point of pride in school districts. That phrase now represents the myriad ways in which schools have learned to take raw test score data — such as the recently released MCA-II scores — and use them to improve classroom learning and, subsequently, student achievement.

Teaching to the test now means using Professional Learning Communities to let teachers collaborate on how to use data to identify, diagnose and treat the strengths and weakness of individual students. Teaching to the test is using intervention programs that take effect right away when data shows a child is slipping in reading or math. Teaching to the test now encompasses a wide variety of district efforts that are established on the nationwide goal made famous by the federal No Child Left Behind legislation: to have all students proficient in reading and math by 2014.

And even though NCLB is on life support, awaiting federal renewal, school officials say they will continue to use data as a way to improve teaching methods and student learning.

“Teaching to the test was once used in a negative context,” said Cindy Amoroso, curriculum director for Mankato Area Public Schools. “It was seen as somehow disingenuous or that it was cheating.

“But more and more, that theory has changed. We need to develop assessments that truly measure what we need to measure. And when we find that, we absolutely need to teach to the test.”

Mankato makes gains
Since 2005-06 when the MCA-II was introduced as the state’s standardized test, the scores in Mankato schools have, with some irregularities, improved and consistently topped state averages.

Those trends, Amoroso said, represent the cumulative effect of a variety of modifications, improvements and complete overhauls to district teaching practices during the last several years.

Reading and math curricula have undergone extensive reviews. Teachers still meet monthly to analyze data and collaborate on classroom improvements. Several intervention programs are available for teachers, and the district employs five specialists whose sole responsibility is ensuring student proficiency in reading and math.

“There’s no way to pinpoint one single factor as to why scores go up or down,” said Amoroso, who cautioned against comparing MCA-II results because the standards on which the tests are based, and even tests themselves, change from year to year.

“With MCA-II scores, we look at the trend data over time. How many students are getting to the standard?”

But while Amoroso said there is cause to celebrate the gains, she also said plenty of challenges lie ahead.

Like many Minnesota districts, Mankato continues to face the challenge of eliminating achievement gaps between students of different ethnic and economic backgrounds. (The state’s adequate yearly progress data, which addresses achievement across several student groups, is due in August.)

And even while those gaps are real, Amoroso said the district also employs a range of approaches — such as career exploration classes, post-secondary courses, English-language learner programs, service-learning projects — to ensure all students meet the goal of being prepared for graduation and the world beyond.

“We need to get students to be successful no matter which path they take,” Amoroso said. “And we do that by ensuring students have interpersonal skills, critical-thinking and problem-solving skills — the whole list of 21st-century skills.”

Maple River motivation
The Maple River School District took a different approach to improving its proficiencies: by motivating students with Saturdays and summers.

A few years ago, teachers at the high school said incoming students lacked the necessary work ethic. In response, middle school teachers created a Saturday school for students falling behind in reading and math. The program, which is voluntary, is recommended to parents when a teacher notices a student not achieving by the middle of the term. Those students then meet with their teachers throughout the week to identify problem areas and then spend three hours practicing on Saturday mornings.

In addition, the district is in the middle of a new summer school program that is based on the premise that if a student isn’t achieving at grade-level after an intensive summer-long program, then that student will not move to the next grade level.

Taken in combination with Professional Learning Communities and the district’s ongoing efforts to improve curriculum, the Saturday and summer programs represent a concerted effort to pair teaching with testing, said Maple River assessment coordinator Jim Bisel.

And the efforts paid off in this year’s results.

Regionally, Maple River’s MCA-II results were among the strongest from top to bottom.

On a statewide level, Maple River had several subjects that were more than 10 percentage points higher than state averages. In sixth-grade math, Maple River’s proficiency was 79.7 percent compared to a 63.7 percent state average. In seventh-grade reading, Maple River was nearly 20 points above state averages.

“For the past three years, we’ve really tried to take an organized approach to what is taught and what is tested,” Bisel said.

“We’ve been working on our curriculum a long time, and it looks like we’re starting to turn the corner.”

Waseca is elementary
Waseca, too, posted some of the highest results in the region on the most recent batch of MCA-II results.

But the district’s most remarkable score was at the third-grade level where students were 97.2 percent proficient in math and 94.5 percent proficient in reading.

Michelle Krell, who is principal of the K-3 Hartley Elementary school, said her staff uses all the standard improvement programs from PLCs to intervention programs. The school also has an after-school program to provide a small window of more personalized instruction for some students, and a summer Kids Academy where additional instruction is embedded into fun activities.

But even more than that, Krell said the secret behind Hartley’s success comes down to a culture where test scores are valuable and high standards are the rule.

“We have really high expectations,” Krell said. “We have a belief that kids can achieve.”