Great news.

That's how Summerland Schools Superintendent Kyle Finke described the district's statewide assessment results. The results, released prior to Thanksgiving, were presented to school board members in December, as part of the district's annual report.

The data, released by the Nebraska Department of Education, assesses a school's proficiency using annual statewide tests taken by students in third to eighth grade, in addition to ACT scores for junior-class members.

The accountability and performance classification model, known as AQuESTT, has been in place since 2015. Data from the 2022-2023 school year places each school in a classification ranking.

Overall, Summerland Public School District received an excellent rating. The middle school and high school landed in the excellent category, while the elementary school received a great rating.

English Language Arts

Finke said students in grades three through sixth met the state proficiency percentage in ELA for their respective classes.

Seventh- and eighth-grade students fell just shy of the average.Third-grade results showed 61% proficiency, compared to 58% statewide. Fourth and fifth grades had 67% proficiency, compared to 55% across the state. In sixth grade, 65% of Summerland students showed proficiency, compared to 56% statewide. Seventh-grade students finished at 62%, compared to 66% statewide, while 50% of eighth-grade students were proficienct. The statewide percentage was 54%.

"Our testing scores were solid in the English Language Arts area. I think a lot of that has to do with what we've got going on with the reading series at the elementary level and overall, the MTSS program so we can identify those students who are struggling," Finke said.

Mathematics

In math proficiency, third-, seventh- and eighth-grade students fell below the state proficiency percentage, while fourth- through sixth-grade students were above the respective state average.

Forty-three percent of third-grade students showed proficiency, compared to 58% statewide; fourth grade, 64%, compared to 58%; fifth grade, 87%, compared to 65%; sixth grade, 83% compared to 57%; seventh grade, 60%, compared to 65%; and eighth grade, 50 percent compared to 61%.

"Fifth grade knocked it out of the park, as did sixth grade," Finke said.

Science

Two grades were tested in science proficiency. Eighty-four percent of fifth-grade students showed proficiency, surpassing the statewide 76%. In eighth grade, 55% showed proficiency, compared to 64% across Nebraska.

ACT scores

Finke said he liked the ACT scores. All junior-class members take the test, which focuses on ELA, math and science.

In English Language Arts, 71% of SPS students were on track or above, compared to 53% statewide. The average score in ELA was 19.9. The statewide average was 17.6.

In math, 76% of the juniors were on track or above, compared to 41% statewide. Summerland students' average score was 20.8, compared to 18.6 statewide.

Sixty-seven percent of SPS students were on track or above in science, outpacing the 51% statewide percentage. Students averaged 20.9 in science, compared to 19.1 statewide.

"That's the ebbs and flows when you only have about 30 to 40 kids taking that assessment," Finke said.

Board president Steven Thiele asked if only college-bound juniors take the test.

According to Finke, all junior class members are required to take the test.

Board member Nate Schwager asked if students can still take the ACT multiple times.

Yes, according to Finke. The scores used in the district's data is strictly from the testing day, in March, at the school.

"It doesn't affect our NSCAS scores (if they take it again)," Finke said.

Looking at reading proficiency data, Finke said scores show a dip in fourth grade and then skyrocket in fifth grade. The trend continues in math.

"It was going to be tough to duplicate what our kids did in science the year before," Finke said.

In 2021-2022, fifth-grade students scored 100% proficiency and eighth-grade ended at the 70% mark.

"There's only two years of data because the test is forever changing and they can't continue to keep so we can compare," Finke said.

The report highlighted several "exciting trends."

The attendance rate at SPS increased 1%.

"I know you might not think that's a big deal, but 1% goes to 95%. That is a big deal. The state average is around 84 or 86%, so our kids are getting here to school," the superintendent said.

In ELA, 60% of Summerland students were considered proficient in all grades, an increase of 17% from the previous year.

In math, 64% of students were considered proficient, a 12% increase from the 2021-2022 school year.

"The big thing I see is all this happened while we added 36 kids to our testing bank," he said. "It's easy to increase your scores if your pool of students goes down, but we did a good job," Finke said.