Nearly 90 percent of 9th graders pass writing test

Education commissioner
Minnesota Education Commissioner Alice Seagren.
MPR Photo/Tim Pugmire

This was the second year 9th grade students took the test known as the Writing Graduation-Required Assessments for Diploma.

This year's passing rate of 89.5 percent was a slight decrease from 90.8 percent in 2007.

Students are asked to write in response to a common question. They're scored on composition, style, sentence formation, grammar, mechanics and spelling. The tests are graded as passing or not passing.

Education Commissioner Alice Seagren said that while the statewide results remain steady, the scores also point out schools and student subgroups where improvements are needed.

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Passing rates ranged from 94 percent among white students to 69 percent among black students.

"The districts will receive this information, and hopefully they'll look at it and see if there's any area that need to be changed so the kids can do an even better job," Seagren said.

Seagren added that the writing test is an important gauge of students' readiness for future jobs.

"When you get out into the job, if you're going to be communicating, you need to have those kind of writing skills to be clear and concise," she said. "So, that is basic level. It's not a a real high level, but it is a basic skill level that is expected for all of our students before they graduate from high school."

Students who did not pass the writing test get several more chances before graduation. The exam replaced the Basic Skills Test in writing that used to be given to 10th graders.