Date: Fri 05-Mar-1999

Publication: Bee

Author: CURT

Quick Words:

Mastery-Test-Scores-Kuklis

Full Text:

Mastery Tests Show Overall Progress By Local Students

BY ANN MARIE COHEN

Newtown students continue to show progress on Connecticut Mastery Test Scores

(CMT). The sixth and eighth grade scores continue to rise from previous years.

Fourth grade scores indicate, however, the need for more work in the lower

grades.

Les Weintraub, principal of the Newtown Middle School said he and his staff

are very proud of the results. "Eighth graders did well in all areas, he said,

89 percent met the statewide goal in reading. Our score is the highest in all

of the ERG B [educational reference group]. It is the third running year we

have ranked first among 17 schools."

The CMT has been given each October to all students in grades four, six and

eight for the past six years. The intent of the test is to determine if

students have mastered essential skills in reading, writing and mathematics.

Administrators attribute the upward progression in scores to the quality of

teaching in our schools. "We are in the mainstream or above in our ERG and I

am pleased with the scores; historically, we have shown progress," said

Assistant Superintendent of Schools Robert Kuklis. "I would be more concerned

if scores were going down as the students advanced through the grades, rather

than up."

For comparative purposes, the state groups the towns into seven educational

reference groups. This grouping is based on socioeconomic similarities.

Newtown is in ERG B with towns like Brookfield, Bethel, Trumbull and

Fairfield. Newtown students' scores compare favorably with these towns and

similar towns in the group.

Seventy-seven percent of this year's fourth grades scored at or above the

state's goal in mathematics, 72 percent met the goal in reading, and 73 were

up to state standards in writing.

Of this year's sixth grades, 65 percent reached the state goal in writing, a

slight decline from 66 percent that met goal when students took the test in

fourth grade, two years ago.

Eighty-one percent of the sixth grade attained the goal in reading, a marked

increase from the 66 percent that reached the goal two years ago.

In mathematics, 71 percent of Newtown's sixth grade met the goal, while 72

percent reached the goal when the class was in fourth grade.

The eighth grade had 77 percent of its class attain the goal in writing. Only

62 percent met the goal in 1996.

Seventy-five percent of eighth grade achieved the goal in mathematics this

year, a big jump from the 63 percent who reached the goal two years ago.

In reading, the eighth grade had 89 percent of its students meet the goal this

year, as compared to 77 percent from its sixth grade scores, two years before.

Frustration In Writing

Lower test scores draw special attention from educators. Data from results are

complex and are given careful analysis. Dr Kuklis pointed out that the data

teaches principals to look at problem solving approaches to target problems

and bring about improvement.

"There has been a frustration with the writing portion of the CMT. Its format

is limiting and it is 45 minutes in duration," explained Dr Kuklis. "Students

are to edit mistakes found on a document that they're unfamiliar with. The

problem is, students should be editing either their own work, or work they

have familiarity with. Forty-five minutes on a given day cannot fully capture

the whole writing process. Students may not be used to this form of testing,

so more practice should be provided."

The district has been doing a great deal of work on writing skills. Mr

Weintraub and his teaching staff at the middle school have adopted a writing

tutorial program for students that did not meet proficiency standards. Mr

Weintraub remarked,"This program is good for the future of eighth grade

students. It is not like a test they crammed for. Teachers see performance

improvements that are carrying over with students reading at a higher level."

Of the 29 students who participated in the writing tutorial, 23 met or

exceeded the goal; and of the 27 participants in the reading tutorial, 22 met

or surpassed the goal for the grade 8 CMT.

Dr Kuklis noted that CMT score results don't always tell the entire story

about a student's academic learning. They are just one part of the assessment

process that, at times, lacks specificity when looking to see where an

individual's strengths and weaknesses lie.

Superintendent of Schools John Reed concluded that time spent dealing with

formats (contained in the CMT test) can get students elevated scores. "Some

districts," he said, "justify all they do based on test results of the CMT.

They 'teach to the test' by focusing on the objectives of the mastery test.

Newtown schools keep standards!"