MECHANIC FALLS – Test scores for eighth-graders at Elm Street School show positive increases in reading, writing and health.

School Committee members this week praised the school and students for the positive Maine Educational Assessment results.

Given in the fourth, eighth and 11th grades, the MEA measures individual student and school achievement of the Maine Learning Results, which established higher academic standards.

Principal Mary Martin said it is good to celebrate the success of the students.

“We had set a goal of where we would like them to be and they exceeded that goal,” Martin said. “The student skills were very strong and they took it seriously. It was our goal that the state standards be met. The students have met that goal. The teachers were well prepared.”

When Elm Street School’s eighth-grade reading scores are compared against the same grade and same school for different school years, scores dropped four points from the 2000-01 school year to 2001-02.

This year that score is up five points from just a year ago. When compared to the other Union 29 schools in Minot and Poland, the scores dropped slightly in 2001-02 and this year returned to the same level they were three years ago. On a statewide average, eighth-grade reading scores have not changed.

For the fourth grade, reading scores compared to the same school in different years rose three points in 2001-02, and dropped two points this year. In Union 29, they stand at one point higher than they were three years ago. Statewide, fourth-grade reading rose one point this year.

Writing scores for eighth-graders are two points higher than they were in 2001-02. In Union 29, the scores show a two-point increase this year over the past three. Statewide, the scores have increased one point since 2000.

Fourth-grade writing is at the same level it was in 2000, after a two-point decrease in 2001-02. Mechanic Falls fourth-graders demonstrated a five-point increase in writing over last year. Statewide, the increase was one point.

For eighth-graders in health education, scores dropped two points from 2000-01 to 2001-02 and increased one point this year. The Union 29 comparison puts Elm Street School one point ahead of last year. Statewide scores have not changed since 2000.

Fourth-grade health scores increased this year by one point after being unchanged since 2000. In Union 29, they went up three points. Statewide, the scores were unchanged.

The MEA also measures learning in math, science and social studies. The school union expects to receive those scores in the late summer or early fall.