Date: Fri 01-Oct-1999

Publication: Bee

Author: JEFF

Quick Words:

master-test

Full Text:

Mastery Test Begins At Middle School

BY JEFF WHITE

The 13th year for the statewide Connecticut Mastery Test (CMT) began this week

at the middle school with most students confident about their preparation for

the two-week test and their abilities to do well.

Although this is a time of reckoning for many school districts -- when low

scores draw scrutiny of elected officials and threaten real estate values --

Newtown has enjoyed relative success in the test over the years.

"Students and teachers seem to be taking it very seriously," Assistant

Principal Tony Salvatore said earlier this week. "It's been a very smooth

testing beginning."

The long-held controversy of the CMT involves schools that place such an

emphasis on good test performance that they "teach to the test," often

focusing on the subjects and essential skills needed for the CMT at the

expense of non-test subjects like science and social studies.

The fear that schools refine what they teach based on the CMT is not a concern

in Newtown, Mr Salvatore said. He points out that the test primarily focuses

on skills that are developed across the curriculum.

The purpose of the test is to determine if students have mastered essential

skills in reading, writing and mathematics.

The math section focuses on different skills for sixth and eighth grade. The

eighth grade section covers five areas: math concepts, computation/estimation,

problem solving/applications, measurement/geometry and algebra.

The sixth grade math section assesses performance in four areas: concepts,

number facts/computations, problem solving/applications and

measurements/geometry.

Sixth and eighth graders undergo a multiple-choice measurement of their

reading ability. They receive 11 reading passages, with 77 accompanying test

items, which each passage increasing in difficulty.

Spot passages are married to a reading comprehension section that tests three

categories: constructing meaning, applying strategies and

analyzing/elaborating/responding critically.

The last skill the CMT evaluates is written communication, which looks at

several components of writing: prewriting/referencing, composing/revising and

editing. There is also a writing prompt that is given on the same day

throughout the state.

Writing is the one part of the test that has had school officials concerned in

the past years, when scores appeared lower than in other sections. Schools

answered with heightened tutorial programs for students struggling with

writing skills.

According to Mr Salvatore, throughout last year and the weeks leading up to

this year's test, students received extra help in areas that proved difficult

on the exam. The result is a more confident student body.

"After a while, you get used to them," said sixth-grader Michael Conroy.

"The test is going well," concluded eighth-grader Tim Duffy. "Seventh grade

was a pretty good review for [the CMT]; it covers everything we learned in

seventh grade."

The CMT is given to forth, sixth and eighth graders across the state.

While Mr Salvatore is quick to caution against using the CMT as an exhaustive

measure of school performance, he does see a place for the annual exam. "It

can point out areas that schools can look at to develop curriculum," he said.

"The mastery test is designed to test good teaching strategies. It's very much

in line with what good teaching is about. It's a really nice match with what

good curriculum should be," Mr Salvatore added.