MARSHALL — The COVID-19 pandemic, and having to switch to distance and hybrid learning for a year, definitely had an impact on Marshall students. But even though state test scores were down at Marshall Public Schools this spring, there were still some good signs, said Director of Teaching and Learning Beth Ritter.

Students’ math results on the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment (MCA) were higher than the state average in several grades. Seventh-graders at MPS also performed higher than the state average in reading for their grade level.

“Our teachers did a phenomenal job,” Ritter said. “It affects our students when there’s not full face-to-face learning.”

Ritter went over MCA testing and other data at Monday’s school board meeting. The data she shared compared student achievement in the 2018-19 school year with the 2020-21 school year.

“The year before, because of COVID, we were not able to have any spring testing,” she said.

The numbers of students proficient in math and reading on the MCA were down across Minnesota in the 2020-21 school year. Statewide, reading proficiency was 52.5%, compared to 59.2% in 2018-19. Math proficiency was 44.2% statewide, compared to 55% in 2018-19.

At MPS, 48.3% of the district’s students were proficient in reading compared to 59% in 2018-19, and 45.6% of students were proficient in math compared to 59.5% in 2018-19.

However, Marshall students in grades, 5, 7, 8 and 11 all performed above the state average in math for their grade levels. Marshall seventh-graders also performed 3.7% higher than the state average in reading for their grade, Ritter said.

The percentages of Marshall students meeting projected growth in reading and math skills over the course of the year were also down compared to the 2018-19 school year, Ritter said. Again, the disruption caused by the COVID pandemic affected students’ learning progress, she said.

Ritter also shared other data from MPS, including the number of English language learners at each Marshall school building. English learners made up more than 20% of the student body at Park Side Elementary, but that percentage gradually dropped as you went from Park Side to West Side Elementary, Marshall Middle School and Marshall High School, she said.

“It really says the interventions we have up through middle school are working,” said school board member Bill Swope.

The number of MPS students who exited the English learner program in the 2020-21 school year was “lower than what we normally see,” Ritter said. A total of 28 students across the district met the criteria to leave the program, with most exiting at the elementary or middle school levels.

However, Ritter said it was worth celebrating that students were making enough progress to exit the program, even in spite of COVID disruptions. Five high school English learners exited the program last year, which Ritter said was exciting, because numbers are usually lower than that at the high school level. Students who are English learners in high school are often newcomers to the U.S., with less practice speaking English.

In 2020, MPS had a four-year graduation rate of 87.6%, compared to the state average of 83.8%, Ritter said.

The data presented to the school board on Tuesday will help MPS set goals for student improvement.

“It gives us an idea of, where can we go from here?” Ritter said.