The state released the 2010 benchmark results yesterday. You can find them here. 

Those who “don’t believe” in tests or think students are being tested to death should probably stop reading now.  You wouldn’t want to gain any knowledge that resulted from torture.

For everyone else, here is the Dem-Gaz article about the results.  And here’s an excerpt.

More Arkansas students scored at grade level or better on the Augmented Benchmark Exams in math and literacy this year as compared to 2009, with two-thirds or more of students scoring at proficient and advanced levels on 11 of the 12 exams.

“We are excited by what we see in these test scores,” said Tom Kimbrell, who became Arkansas’ education commissioner in September. “We’ve got areas we need to focus on, and we’ve got areas in which we can celebrate success.”

Kimbrell said he was most pleased with the continued year-to-year progress in student achievement and, for the fourth year in a row, a narrowing of the achievement gaps among the subpopulations of black, white and Hispanic students.

In conjunction with the Benchmark exams, the Arkansas Department of Education also released the results of state’s 11thgrade literacy test and the Stanford Achievement Test, 10th edition. The Stanford results also showed gains in virtually all categories and particularly strong performances in math.

The Benchmark Exams, which test students’ mastery of state academic standards in grades three through eight, are required by state law and by the federal No Child Left Behind Act, which calls for all students to achieve at grade levels in math and literacy by 2013-14.

The tests are used to identify students who need individual academic improvement plans.