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Board passes new accountability rules
The South Dakota Board of Education passed the new accountability rules at its meeting last month. The board was able to address two of the three written comments received through the public hearing process – one related to career readiness and the other related to volatility of scores in schools with small student populations.
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New school year means updates to SDMyLife system
Updated district courses are now listed on SDMyLife.com, the online career development tool provided through the Department of Education. Also, by keeping Infinite Campus data current, you can ensure your SDMyLife student roster is accurate. Encourage school counselors to take a moment to double check the system roster. For more information or assistance, send an email to sdmylife@state.sd.us.

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State Report Card available online

The 2012 Report Card, which details student progress on South Dakota’s state assessment, was made available online last month.

There was a slight uptick in reading and math scores on the state assessment, delivered last spring, with 75.5 percent of students scoring either proficient or advanced in reading. That was up about one-tenth of a percentage point from last year. The percent of students scoring proficient or advanced in math went from 76.5 percent a year ago to 76.7 percent this year.

The Dakota STEP and Dakota STEP-A were administered to about 62,000 students in grades 3-8 and 11 in the spring of 2012. The Dakota STEP-A is an alternate version of the assessment for students who have a significant cognitive disability.

The 2012 Report Card, including district- and school-level results, is available on the Department of Education’s web site at doe.sd.gov. Follow the “Report Card” link under “Quick Links” on the left-hand side of the page.