Montville Sophomores Improve In Mathematics, Science Scores

The superintendent of Montville Public Schools praised the district’s results on the Connecticut Academic Performance Test, including some that are the highest in five years, but said a drop in performance on the reading test is cause for concern.

The CAPT test is given to tenth graders and measures performance in reading, writing, mathematics, and science. Compared to last year, Montville increased the number of students at or above goal level from 42.5 percent to 46.2 percent in mathematics and from 51.1 to 55.4 percent in science. Writing scores stayed level, with 62.6 percent meeting goal compared to 62.7 percent last year. The percentage of students meeting the reading goal fell from 47.8 percent to 41 percent.

Superintendent Pamela Aubin said Montville’s science scores were at their highest level in five years in both goal and proficiency levels. A total of 85.5 percent of Montville students made the proficiency level, a 2.7 percent increase from last year.

Montville exceeded the state average in science and writing. Forty-nine percent of Connecticut students made goal level in science, while 62.1 percent made goal level in writing.

In the Connecticut Mastery Test, which is given to grades three through eight, Montville’s strongest performance came in reading and writing. The district’s reading scores exceeded the state average in every grade except fifth grade, which along with the sixth grade had a lower percentage of students making goal level in each subject as compared to last year.

Aubin said the third grade reading scores are also the highest in the district in five years. In that grade, 61.4 percent of students made goal level and 79.9 percent made proficiency level.

Aubin said elementary school principals identified a group of students in each grade level taking the CMT to attend extended day support in an after-school intervention program.

“This program specifically focused on the areas of reading and math. This program operated for two days per week and included academic support, homework completion and recreational activities,” said Aubin. “This program was funded by the CSDE After School Grant and Title 1 funds.”

Teachers also incorporated Smart Board technology into their lessons and focused on reading comprehension skills, Aubin said.

Aubin said some strategies adopted by the Board of Education and the district should help improve reading scores. The Board has approved “Montville’s Additional Pathways to Success,” a double block of mathematics and reading for students who would benefit from additional instruction in those areas. Aubin said the district has also done work over the summer to align the schools’ curricula with the Common Core State Standards as the state transitions to this model of assessment.

The Connecticut Department of Education said in a press release that CMT scores showed decreases in all grades compared to last year, but were a “marked improvement” compared to 2006 scores. The department says CAPT scores showed slight increases to mathematics, reading, and science scores and a slight decrease in writing scores.