And Expansion Project Update—

School Board Hears Of CMT Results

By Eliza Hallabeck

During a presentation before the Board of Education on Tuesday, September 1, Assistant Superintendent of Schools Linda Gejda shared results from the Connecticut Mastery Tests (CMT) and discussed the Adequate Yearly Progress. The school board also learned about progress on the Newtown High School expansion project from Superintendent of Schools Janet Robinson.

In celebration of the new school year, coffee, tea, and cookies were set up for board members and members of the public in attendance. Tuesday’s meeting was held the night before school began across the district.

“There is so much information and so much data with respect to our testing,” said Dr Gejda to the school board at the start of her presentation.

The presentation was the first part of two presentations of assessments on tests given throughout the district over the course of the last school year. Newtown High School Principal Charles Dumais is scheduled to present the second half of the school district testing report, which will cover the CAPT, SAT, and Advanced Placement tests, during the school board’s next meeting on September 15.

Dr Gejda explained to the school board the 2001 No Child Left Behind legislation will require all students to test at a proficient level, the third level of five in the testing, by the 2013-2014 school year.

Roughly 100 students in the district took a new pilot test in the state called the Modified Assessment System, and it was designed for students with more significant needs who had up until this year been testing on grade level. Dr Gejda said these students were still tested on grade level content, but the wording of the questions was altered. Test results for the Modified Assessment System are expected to be released by the state in early November.

Results for third grade students in the district showed a dip for the second year in a row, and board members asked Dr Gejda multiple questions regarding this. This year’s third grade scored 96.7 percent at or above proficient in math, 87.4 percent at or above proficient in reading, and 95.2 percent at or above proficient in writing. This year’s percentages for the same students’ scores for the at or above goal level were 84.4 percent in math, 74.7 percent in reading and 83.9 percent in writing.

“If you look at our performance overtime with grade three,” said Dr Gejda, starting with the 2006 year test, because that was the first year the current version of the test was given. “In math there is a general increase. Reading started an increase, then for the last two years we have not been moving in the right direction. And in writing, also, has shown an increase.”

During the Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) portion of the presentation, Dr Gejda explained which schools passed the percentages of students testing at the required levels by the state.

“The elementary schools achieved AYP in all categories,” said Dr Gejda.

Reed Intermediate School achieved a safe harbor qualification for reading and math targets for students with disabilities, which means significant improvement was shown in the tests. Newtown Middle School did not meet the Adequate Yearly Progress requirements for students with disabilities on the CMT this year.

A full audio recording of Dr Gejda’s presentation to the school board on the CMT results is available on The Newtown Bee’s website, www.newtownbee.com.

Additional information on the school district’s CMT scores are available at www.ctreports.com and www.sde.ct.gov/sde/site/default.asp.

CIP Report

Another discussion during the school board’s Tuesday meeting centered on the school district’s Capital Improvement Plan. Superintendent Robinson said she and Director of Facilities Gino Faiella plan to be present at the September 14 Board of Finance meeting when school board secretary Kathryn Fetchick will present the board’s CIP to the finance board.

Dr Robinson also shared ideas for the CIP, which included breaking projects into phases to be accomplished in smaller portions over time.

During the superintendent’s report to the school board, Dr Robinson said the Newtown High School expansion project is moving along close to schedule. The project was delayed for six days, she said, due to material delivery, “but six days is not the end of the world.”

The board also learned details about the approaching move from the Board of Education’s offices on Peck’s Lane to the Newtown Municipal Center on the Fairfield Hills campus. While municipal offices for the town will be moving first, Dr Robinson told the board the school district offices should be moving during the last weekend in October.

The district “really has a need for storage space,” said Dr Robinson, adding that some school district staff are not excited about the move because of space limitations in the new facility. Record retention requirements was expressed as one example of this need. She did add the new building will be completely wired for sound and, like other town meetings, future meetings of the school board could be videoed and aired on Channel 17.