Welcome to our new web site!

To give our readers a chance to experience all that our new website has to offer, we have made all content freely avaiable, through October 1, 2018.

During this time, print and digital subscribers will not need to log in to view our stories or e-editions.

Las Cruces Academy ranks high in standardized testing

Posted

Bulletin Report

LAS CRUCES - The Las Cruces Academy (LCA) announces the excellent results from a recent administration of the Iowa Assessments, a widely used set of standardized tests for measuring academic achievement.

The LCA students had composite scores in the top 1 percent of schools across the nation which administered the test and in the top 13 percent of private schools across the nation.

The scoring system used also yields a grade equivalent achieved by the students in each area and as a composite. On average, LCA students performed two years above their actual grade level in composite scores, and individually as high as six years.

This performance was achieved despite not teaching to the Iowa Assessments, or any other standardized test. The school attributes the results to several factors: small classes, passionate teachers and classes that are further split into smaller groups; for instance, a class of 12 students may have four separate spelling groups. So, each student is taught at his or her own appropriate level, challenging but not overwhelming.

All students have several teachers during the day, with each teacher providing instruction in their area of expertise. The students also get frequent breaks, for recess and for snacks, so they can concentrate when they are in class. In addition, all students spend significant time during the day actually reading, so they become masters of this most important skill.

The Iowa Assessments were initially developed in 1935 and have been continually updated by faculty in the College of Education at the University of Iowa. This battery of standardized tests is used as a measurement of skills including vocabulary, word analysis, reading comprehension, capitalization, punctuation, mathematics, social studies, and science.

This generality has made the tests popular across the country, in addition to its use in Iowa.

At the LCA, the tests provide the school with a basis to determine overall performance in key areas, to identify students who need additional instruction in specific areas, and to ensure proper placement of students into learning groups.

 


X