FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Friday, August 12, 2005
CONTACT:    Tracy Mercer, Board of Regents, (605) 773-3455

Proficiency Exam Results Show SD Students Achievement

SPEARFISH, S.D. – Students at South Dakota public universities as a whole score higher on measures of writing skills, mathematics, reading, and science reasoning than their counterparts at other four-year public institutions.

The South Dakota Board of Regents Friday reviewed results from the 2004-05 proficiency examinations. The exam has been administered to second-semester sophomores in the South Dakota system since 1998.

“Our students have consistently done well on these tests.  Each year they have scored higher than the national mean,” said Regents President Harvey C. Jewett.

In all four subject areas tested by the exam, South Dakota public university students overall exceeded the average for the national comparison group.

“Although our students have done quite well we still examine the report for areas that can be improved,” said Regents Executive Director Robert T. Tad Perry. “For example, test results from the previous four years showed slight increases in the percentage of students requiring remediation in reading.  The percentage had climbed to 4.6 percent.  After identifying this trend, steps were taken to correct it and the 2004-2005 report shows a 1 percent decrease of students requiring remediation.  This kind of information makes the proficiency exam an excellent accountability tool.” 

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