Teachers in the Butte School District No. 1 should be really proud of the day-in, day-out work they do teaching local kids. Good news came in on the testing front this Fall, when the Montana Office of Public Instruction announced that Butte was one of only three Class AA districts to score above the 60th percentile – and 14 points higher than the state average — on the Smarter Balanced test, a rigorous online test that align with 2015-implemented Common Core standards. The other two districts that scored at that level are Bozeman and Kalispell, with considerable higher enrollments than the Butte school district. In math, Butte Curriculum Director Jim O’Neill concedes that there’s still much work to be done. While Butte students in grades kindergarten to grade 12 scored three points higher than the 41 percent statewide who tests “proficient or above,” the new standards require a student to explain in writing how he/she arrived at an answer. Grants, O’Neill says, will help fill the gaps and boost math scores. The district has an annual $75,000 Title I School Support Grant and a $50,000 21st Century Rockies grant.
Read More from the Montana Standard: http://mtstandard.com/news/local/butte-students-score-higher-in-english-but-need-math-help/article_ebbb1ce6-d9d9-537c-87c9-7fbeb4f564ca.html