This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Schools

School Officials Reviewing CMT Results

The results of the tests were mixed in both East Windsor and Windsor Locks schools.


School officials in Windsor Locks and East Windsor said the Connecticut Mastery Test scores need to be reviewed and analyzed further to see where changes can be made to make improvements.

Wayne Sweeney, Windsor Locks Superintendent of Schools, said the CMT scores showed similar trends to the CAPT scores, which were also released last week.

“Statistically, they are mostly flat,” he said. “We are still reviewing the scores and looking at the numbers.”

He said the district has a number of new initiatives it will be implementing, including developing new literacy and numeracy curriculum and reviewing student data on a regular basis as compared to benchmark scores.

The early release schedule on Mondays starting this school year also will be a time for teachers to review student data and teaching practices to improve test scores and overall performance, Sweeney said.

The Connecticut Mastery Test is given to students in third through eighth grades each spring, and measures their performance in math, reading and writing. Fifth- and eighth-graders also are tested in science.

Student performance on the CMT statewide is generally better than it was in 2010, continuing a trend of incremental improvement over previous years, according to the state Department of  Education. The CMT assesses approximately 250,000 students statewide.

East Windsor Superintendent of Schools Theresa Kane said some grades showed improvements, while others had declines. Third grade scores were below state averages, but showed more growth than state levels, which Kane said shows although there is still work to be done, the gap is closing.

However in fourth grade, math and reading scores were below state averages and showed negative growth, which Kane said is very disappointing. For math, 58.6 percent met goal, while 74.7 were proficient. For reading and writing, 50 percent met goal, and 60.2 and 80.4 were proficient respectively.

“We need to do further data analysis by class, student and curriculum strand to see where and why our students are not succeeding,” she said. “With a small sample, just a few students can throw off the overall scores. But the bottom line is we need to figure out why we are not hitting the mark.”

Fifth and sixth grades also showed a decline in scores. Eighth grade also had declines in math, reading, writing and science.

Seventh grade was above the state average in math and showed growth from last year.

“In reading and math we saw strong performances, so we want to examine that so we can duplicate it elsewhere,” Kane said. “Seventh grade was our beacon.”

In math, 74.4 percent met goal and 91.9 percent were proficient; in reading 88.4 percent met goal and 91.9 percent were proficient.

The East Windsor scores will be presented to the board of education in September, with data analysis.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?