HHS has reached 81.87 percent for 2014 in the Multiple Measurement Rating (MMR), an increase of almost seven percent from 74.99 percent in 2013.

“Not many people know that Hopkins is showing some really great growth points in MMR, and it’s a thing to celebrate. Hopkins is making some great gains,” said Mr. Adam McDonald, Associate Principal.

The MMR is a measurement of school performance implemented by the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE).The MMR measures each school based on state test scores, growth in student achievement, reduction of the achievement gap, and graduation rates for high schools. Schools earn points in each category and the percentage of the possible total score determines the school’s MMR score.

“The MMR is kind of like one of those mystery boxes that everyone tries to figure out. A lot of it is linked back to the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment (MCA) scores,” McDonald said.

Dianne Schimelpfenig, Hopkins Public School District’s director of teaching, learning, and assessment, believes that the increase in MMR shows immense progress in certain areas.

“If we look at the progress that was made from 2013 to this year, 100 percent of the student groups met their proficiency targets, and high percentages met their growth and achievement gap targets. Almost every student also met their graduation target. The number is really reaffirming the good work of students and teachers that is going on at the high school,” Schimelpfenig said.

Schimelpfenig explains that the district spends a lot of time looking at how students are achieving success.

“MMR is one of many important indicators. My hope is that there will be continuing progress. But, because these are based on MCA results, the student body is rotating, so we expect some amount of variability in the future,” said Schimelpfenig.

Since the classes of students rotate every year, McDonald explains that the increase in MMR only reflects growth points from one class to the next.

“When dealing with MMR, you’re not comparing apples to apples, you’re comparing apples to oranges. When you go from class to class you’re not measuring the same group of students. Still, the MMR gives [HHS] a general overview of how [HHS] is doing as a building. It’s important information for us to know,” McDonald said.

As a part of the overall MMR, the MDE calculates the Achievement Gap Reduction, a domain which measures the ability of schools to get higher levels of growth from lower performing student groups.

“The MMR is the first measurement of what the achievement gap is and what that looks like for individual schools. Current research stresses the importance of the learning gap and learning opportunity. The MMR increase shows that Hopkins is making some achievement strides in that area,” McDonald said. “Students in our African American populations, Latino populations, and Free or Reduced Lunch populations had some great gains on the MCA.”

Schimelpfenig believes that the work HHS staff does to bridge the achievement gap is a factor for the recent increase in scores

“Hopkins does a lot to ensure that different student groups are able to find success. For example, we might pull out a student who receives ELL services and see what their growth looks like in both math and reading,” Schimelpfenig said. “Hopkins looks at what supports are already in place and sees if there is additional assistance that can be implemented to help students reach success,”

The administration believes that MCA test scores have risen in part by two programs HHS has implemented: the late start prep sessions and specialized TASC. The Math and Language Arts departments have worked with sophomores that are taking the reading exam and juniors that are taking the math exam during two different two hour prep sessions in order to provide specific preparation for the tests. HHS has also developed specialized TASC sessions for the science and math MCAs where students could come during the regular TASC time and receive specific exposure to test questions.

McDonald explains, however, that better performance on MCA and an increase in MMR are not necessarily the most important indicators for success amongst HHS students.

“For me, MCA is the basic information that everyone should use leaving our institution. [HHS] is not satisfied with basic, [Hopkins] is not satisfied with proficiency. We want students to excel, and when they reach wherever they’re going that they have the skills necessary to be successful,” McDonald said.

According to McDonald, the measuring stick HHS uses to measure success is students’ college readiness. In order to determine college readiness, HHS analyzes student survey information, alumni experiences, and parent surveys, along with hard data, such as the amount of students attending four year institutions after high school, two-year institutions after high school, and students’ success rates at those schools.

Another statistic HHS uses as a measure of college readiness is the American College Testing (ACT). ACT is the aptitude with which colleges measure how successful students are.

“I’m not sure if MMR really depicts how we’re doing holistically as a building,” Mcdonald said. “I think that other measurements, such as the ACT for example, are other indicators that HHS can point to and discover what we do well and how we can improve as a school.”

The administration believes that the increase in MMR is definitely something HHS should be celebrating, but is also something that must be put into context.

“One of the ways we will communicate this growth is in our annual report that our communications office will be sending out later this year,”  Schimelpfenig said. “[The report] talks about the improvement in MCA test scores along with other programs that are doing really well in the district such as world languages, Advanced Placement, and other things that aren’t measured by the MCA test.”

In comparison to other components of measurement, such as ACT scores and overall MCA scores, McDonald believes that HHS is not where it wants to be for all of its students.

“At Hopkins, we are preparing students for their next journey. The MMR talks about a baseline, and we’re moving everyone incrementally up, which is great. But, as an institution, our goal is to really push for the stars,” McDonald said.