AUGUSTA – Maine eighth- and 11th-graders showed improvements in writing scores over the past three years, but the results of the new statewide exams are too preliminary to judge long-term trends, officials said.

Results from the 2000-2001 school year, which were unveiled Thursday, will be combined with results from the previous two years to set a base performance for determining progress of Maine schools in the next several years.

An analysis of data over the past three school years showed test results have been stable despite changes in the test and schedule, educators say.

The Maine Education Assessment test was redesigned in 1998, and a state law known as Learning Results was adopted setting standards for what all Maine students should know.

The new standards do not have to be fully implemented until the 2002-03 school year, and they will be used by local school systems in awarding high school diplomas for the graduation Class of 2007.

“The reforms under way in our schools today will not come to fruition for several years, and then will take time to fully impact student achievement,” Education Commissioner J. Duke Albanese said.

The writing assessment, comprising an essay and reading comprehension exercise, had the only noteworthy changes, Albanese said.

The percentage of eighth-graders who met or exceeded standards increased from 25 percent to 39 percent over the past three school years; the percentages were even higher for 11th-graders, who improved from 31 percent to 41 percent.

There were corresponding drops in the percentage of students who failed to meet writing standards in both grades. No clear patterns emerged in tests of pupils in the fourth grade, officials said.