North Canaan CMT scores show some strengths, some weaknesses

NORTH CANAAN — “We can always do better.†That has become North Canaan Elementary School Principal Rosemary Keilty’s stock answer when asked about the school’s Connecticut Mastery Test scores.

“It’s sort of our motto. It’s not that our students don’t typically do well, and the scores are only one indicator of how students are doing academically, but it’s a very useful tool by which we can make improvements,†she said.

On average, about three-quarters of students in grades three to eight reached the state goal in reading, writing and math on the tests (known as the CMTs).

The scores were released this fall and reflect tests taken last spring. The tests are given to students in grades three to eight. The results are used to chart each student’s progress through elementary school, and are used to check on the effectiveness of teaching methods.  They are also used to determine if a school is meeting its federal No Child Left Behind goals.

Hard to compare regional schools

Each school across the state is slotted into a District Reference Group (DRG). The goal is to level the playing field for comparison purposes by grouping schools of like size, median family income, parental education and occupation, the number of single parent homes, the percentage of students coming from a home where another language is spoken and the percentage eligible for free or reduced lunch.

This is a change from the former Economic Reference Group (ERG) profile. The regrouping was based on changes in towns and school districts as to affluence and need. Of the six Region One elementary schools, Salisbury was the only one moved based on local changes. It was moved to what the state describes as a “less affluent/higher need†group.

Most of the Region One schools are not in the same DRG, which can make it difficult to compare the performance of neighboring schools. Some of the towns that share North Canaan’s DRG are East Windsor, Thompson, Windsor Locks, Seymour and Plymouth.

The six towns in Region One are North Canaan, Cornwall, Falls Village, Kent, Salisbury and Sharon.

Interpreting the scores

As always, in just about every school, test scores indicate trouble spots here and there.

Students who were in third grade last year did not do well on the reading portion of the test, but did better on the writing test. Their average scores placed them in the midpoint of schools in their DRG.  

Fifth-graders scored near the top of their DRG on all test areas. Fourth-graders earned the top slot in their DRG in reading, with 72 percent of students meeting the state goal.

Last year’s eighth-grade class did poorly on math, reading, writing and the new science test. Only 46.5 percent of students reached the state goal in math. In reading, 53.5 met the goal and in writing, 45.2 percent met the goal. On the science portion, 58.1 percent met the goal.

“It’s an issue,†Keilty said, “but those students graduated last year, so there’s nothing we can do. It will be interesting to see how they do next year on [the high-school level Connecticut Academic Performance Test].†The high school test is given to students in 10th grade.

Teaching to the test

Faculty meetings at North Canaan Elementary School are now focused mainly on CMTs and how the school can adjust the curriculum to help students do better and be more confident in testing, according to Keilty.

Part of that effort is to determine why a class did poorly in a particular subject. It may be indicative of a curriculum issue. Or it could be that one or two struggling students in a small class are throwing off the percentage.

Keilty uses the phrase “teaching to the test.†It has negative connotations, and is presumed to mean teachers are limiting classroom subject matter to what is specifically on the test and working solely toward good test scores.

But Keilty explained that schools don’t know what questions will be asked, only what topics will be covered. If they know that third-graders will be tested on fractions, and they had originally planned to teach fractions after the CMTs, they can move fractions up to an earlier period in the school year.

“A lot of expertise goes into setting the goals for test scores. We are taking advantage of that to help our students not just test better, but to come away with a better education,†Keilty said.

Results for individual schools and grades can be found online at cmtreports.com.