Minnesota students showed improvement in the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment II science tests, but students across the area scored mostly below state average. And more than half of public school students who took the exams scored below grade-level expectations.

Students in fifth grade, eighth grade and high school took the MCA-II science test. That translates to about 181,600 students across the state.

“These results show that a strong focus on rigorous science education is paying off,” Minnesota Education Commissioner Alice Seagren said. “While there is much work to be done, Minnesota’s students and educators can be proud of this strong step forward.”

Officials said the raw numbers only tell part of the story because students and teachers are still adjusting to intentionally high standards of the test.

“These are rigorous tests. But in spite of that we would hope that our scores would be better than a 50 percent ranking,” said Mike Lindstrom, executive director of the nonprofit SciMathMN.

Scores in Albert Lea were right on state average last year, but Judy Knudtson, district director of curriculum, said she and others involved with the curriculum committee will begin to look into what changed over last year.

The big swing was at the eighth-grade level, where 30.4 percent of Albert Lea eighth-graders met or exceeded standards, down from 46.1 percent in 2008.

“We like the fact that we’re doing well at the high school and are trending upward. The elementary is holding its own, but we would like to see that also trending upward. The eighth-grade is such an anomaly, that we really are going to need to take a look not only at the curriculum, but at the actual cohort,” Knudtson said.

Knudtson said the district will likely compare the science results with how those students did on the reading and math tests.

The largest disparity between the state average and local scores was in eighth grade in Glenville-Emmons, where 21.2 percent of those tested met or exceeded standards. Statewide, 42.6 percent of eighth-graders met or exceeded standards. In Alden-Conger, 39.6 percent of eighth-graders met or exceeded standards.

United South Central eighth-graders scored above the state average, as 48.2 percent of students met or exceeded standards.

The largest statewide improvement was in fifth-grade, where 45 percent of students met or exceeded standards compared with 39 percent last year.

Alden-Conger fifth-graders exceeded the state average with 48.5 percent of students meeting standards, which was up from 38.2 percent in 2008. However, 37.5 percent of both Albert Lea and Glenville-Emmons fifth-graders met or exceeded standards. That was up from 28.6 percent for Glenville-Emmons eighth-graders in 2008. For United South Central fifth-graders, 42.4 percent met or exceeded standards.

The high school students also showed significant improvement statewide, with 49.5 percent meeting or exceeding standards — up from 43 percent in 2008.

Students from Albert Lea High School scored below the state average, but scores showed improvement with 44.7 percent of students meeting standard, which is up from 37.5 percent last year.

Other high school students in the area also scored below the state average, with 41.7 at Alden-Conger and 37 percent at USC. Glenville-Emmons students raised their scores to 37.9 percent from 26.7 percent in 2008.

—The Associated Press contributed to this story.