More students in some grades in the Natchez-Adams School District scored above average during state testing last spring. Figuring out why is not so easy, however.

Because students took a different standardized test last spring than they have in years past, comparing the scores to last year’s is like comparing apples to oranges.

As compared to 1999, the district saw the bottom quartile numbers improve for seventh-graders, fifth- and sixth-graders at McLaurin Elementary and fourth- and fifth-graders at Morgantown Elementary.

When studying test scores, districts often look at the bottom quartile as indication of academic problems. But to understand the scores, districts also need to take a look at the test itself.

During the 1998-99 school year, districts compiled bottom quartile numbers from student scores on the Iowa Test of Basic Skills.

But this year, the districts used another test — the Terra Nova.

Since the Terra Nova was just given for the first time, &uot;we really don’t have any means of comparing,&uot; said Judy Robbins, Mississippi director of student assessment.

The tests were also based on different statistical curves developed when a sample of students took each test.

&uot;When they are developing a test they give it to a wide sample of students across the nation&uot; to form the statistical curve, or norms, Robbins said.

All future scores are compared to the group but the Iowa norms were established in 1992 and the Terra Nova norms in 1996.

&uot;After you get three or four years away from the norming group, instruction can change a whole lot,&uot; Robbins said.

Officials also said they think the Terra Nova is better aligned with the state curriculum being taught in the classroom than the Iowa test.

But typically, Natchez Superintendent Dr. Carl Davis said he would expect scores to go down when students take a new test instead of improve.

Whatever the reason, if lower performing students are moving out of the bottom quartile &uot;that’s still good news,&uot; Robbins said.

The scores are important because the Mississippi Department of Education uses the scores to assess student learning.

Until March 1999, the state used the scores to rank districts on a scale of one to five, with five being the highest.

The Natchez-Adams School District is rated a 3.0, which is the lowest rating a district can have and still be classified successful.

Right now, the ratings are frozen because the state is changing how it rates districts.

A new accountability or rating plan, approved by the state Legislature, will rate districts on a different scale and hold schools accountable for showing improvement for each child.

But even though the scores are frozen, Natchez-Adams district officials say students held their own during the 2000 testing.

Under the old ranking system, &uot;we’re a good solid 3.0,&uot; said Mary Kate Garvin, assistant superintendent of the Natchez-Adams School District.

As part of the state’s new accountability plan, students will take a form of the Terra Nova in spring 2001 to establish a baseline of scores. They will then take the test again in spring 2002.

Districts will use the baseline as a way of determining growth&uot; in various subject areas, Garvin said.

When looking at test scores, Garvin said she also thinks it is a good idea to look at the bottom quartile.

But it is also important to look at the scores cross laterally instead of comparing seventh-grade scores in 1999 to seventh-grade scores in 2000, Garvin said.

For example, in 1999, 41.4 percent of the seventh-grade students scored in the bottom quartile.

But in 2000, that group of students advanced to the eight-grade, where only 32.9 percent scored in the bottom quartile.

Garvin agrees it is hard to put a finger on changes in the bottom quartile but she also thinks emphasis on curriculum, exit skills and instruction have helped.

The improvement &uot;says something about us being focused,&uot; Davis said.

Students are also more aware about the importance of testing and learning their exits skills.

&uot;I think that awareness in itself makes a lot of kids perform better,&uot; Davis said.

To help students learn, teachers are requiring journal writing and daily math drills this year. And kindergarten to sixth-grade teachers are also reading to students 10 to 15 minutes every day, Garvin said.