Schools

Montville Schools Show Strength and Weakness on CT Mastery Tests

Some grade levels show improvements, others show declines

The scores on the Connecticut Mastery Tests were released today, and while some grade levels in Montville showed improvement, others showed declines, and in some cases, precipitous ones.

Superintendent Pamela Aubin said that "If anything, I see mixed results."

Aubin said that Montville has had a history of "phenomenal gains, especially at the middle school level, and so the declines are significant."

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Grades 4, 5 and 8 showed increases in the percentage of students at or above goal in math in 2011, as compared with 2010, with grades 4 and 8 also showing increases in the percentage of students at or above proficiency levels, compared to 2010 levels.

Grades 5 and 8 showed increases in reading, with greater percentages of students at or above goal, and at or above proficiency, than in 2010.

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The Grade 6 percentages for students at or above goals increased from 2010, while the percentag of at or above proficiency levels were the same this year as last, at 91 percent, well above the state levels.

Grade 8 reading levels showed marked increases over 2010, with 76.8 percent scoring at or above goal, compared to 71.4 percent in 2010, and 84.5 percent scoring at or above proficiency in 2011, compared to 82.2 in 2010.

Writing scores for Grade 8 also increased, with 67.9 percent at or above goal, compared to 63.3 percent in 2010.

Scores for grades 3 and 7, however, showed decreases, some dramatic.

The percentage of Grade 3 students who were at or above goal dropped from 75.5 percent in 2010 to 63.4 percent this year. The percentage of students at or above proficiency also dropped, from 91.8 percent in 2010 to 86.6 percent this year.

Reading proficiency for Grade 3 saw a decrease, also, from 75.1 percent at or above proficiency in 2010 to 69.9 percent at or above proficiency in 2011.

Grade 3 writing showed decreases, also, with the above goal score falling from 62.2 percent to 57.3 percent, and the at or above proficiency level dropping from 83.1 percent to 79.2 percent.

Grade 7 showed declines as well. The percentage of students at or above goal in math fell from 73.8 percent in 2010 to 61.1 percent this year. At or above proficiency levels in math fell from 91.1 percent to 85.5 percent.

Grade 7 reading levels fell, also, from 86.1 percent at or above goal in 2010 to 73.3 percent in 2011. At or above proficiency numbers fell from 90.5 percent in 2010 to 82.8 percent in 2011.

Grade 7 writing scores also fell, from 67.6 percent at or above goal in 2010 to 62 percent in 2011, while the at or above proficiency numbers fell from 82.4 percent in 2010 to 73.5 percent in 2011.

To see all the numbers for this year and the past three, click on the pdfs in the photo box.

Aubin said Montville will use the scores to focus improvement. Each school has a school improvement team, which will study the results and make changes accordingly.

"I do get concerned," Aubin sad, "when I see a large drop like that.

"We need to have a greater percentage of students at goal."

Across the state, student performance is generally better than it was in 2010, according to a press release. This continues a trend of  incremental improvement over previous years.

The CMT assesses approximately 250,000 students on their application of skills and knowledge in the academic content areas of mathematics, reading and writing in Grades 3 through 8, and science in Grades 5 and 8.


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