What is SD Smarter Balanced + SD Science?
SD Smarter Balanced + SD Science is the statewide standardized test administered by South Dakota public schools.
What does "% Proficient" mean?
It is the share of students at the school who performed at grade level or above on the test, summed across the top two of four performance levels. A higher number is better.
What does 47.4% mean for English Language Arts at Jolley Elementary - 04?
It means about 47.4 percent of students tested at Jolley Elementary - 04 performed at grade level or above on the SD Smarter Balanced + SD Science English Language Arts test in 2023-24. The statewide average for South Dakota that year was 49.6%. The other students fell into the lower performance levels.
How is the state average calculated?
It is a weighted average, not a simple average of each school's number. We multiply each public school's score by how many of its students tested, add those together for all schools in South Dakota, and divide by the total students tested that year. This way a big school with 1,500 students counts more than a small school with 50 students, which is the right way to ask "how did the typical student do this year?". District and county averages on this page use the same method, just scoped to that district or county.
Where does this data come from?
South Dakota Department of Education, Smarter Balanced (ELA + Math) + SD Science Assessment. School-level All Students subgroup, current-year column from the SD Report Card MicroStrategy export. Headline metric is the cumulative SBAC Level 3+4 / SD Science Proficient+Advanced rate.
How often is it updated?
SD Smarter Balanced + SD Science is administered once a year (spring). Results are released by the state in the summer or early fall. We refresh this page after each annual release.
