Mastery Test scores put pressure on schools to perform

FALLS VILLAGE — The results are in for the Connecticut Mastery Tests (CMT), and parents are wondering how their children — and their schools — stack up.

The CMT is a test given to students in grades three through eight in math, reading, writing and science. (The science component is a new addition.)

The tests used to be required for students in grades four, six and eight, but with the advent of the federal No Child Left Behind Act in 2001 the state was compelled to add testing in all grades. Prior to No Child Left Behind, even though it was not required by the state, Region One gave the tests to all students from grade four; the off-year tests weren’t scored but used for evaluation purposes.

The Region One School District includes the elementary schools in North Canaan, Cornwall, Falls Village, Sharon, Salisbury and Kent, and the regional high school in Falls Village. High school students take the Connecticut Academic Performance Test instead of the CMT.

The CMT is graded on a scale from 1 to 5 in each area tested; a 5 score is deemed “advanced,†a 4 is “at goal,†a 3 is “proficient,†a 2 is “basic†and a 1 is “below basic.â€

With No Child Left Behind regulations, schools need to have a certain percentage of students at the proficient level or higher, Region One Superintendent Patricia Chamberlain explained. However, in Region One the schools use the higher “at goal†scores as their benchmark.

There are multiple-choice questions, short essays and problem-solving exercises; Chamberlain said, “A human being needs to read the tests†to score them. The test results show generally what the strengths and weaknesses are of the school and the student body. But they are most useful for the detailed information they provide on individual students. Teachers and administrators study the test scores and either make changes to curriculum if all students seem to be struggling with a subject; or they can offer additional help to individual youngsters who are struggling.

In this round of tests, most of the regional schools reported that they were pleased with their reading and writing scores. The math scores showed that work is needed in that subject.

The tests used to be administered in the fall; last year, it was switched to the spring.

“People felt testing students in the spring was a better measure,†Chamberlain said. “Before we were just jumping into it†right after the opening of the school year. “There is some natural regression then. And it’s not really how you want to open the school year.â€

When students arrived at school in fall, they almost immediately had to begin reviewing for the test.

This a new science component was given to students in grades five and eight for the first time.

No Child Left Behind rules require schools to meet “adequate yearly progress†goals; the problem for a system like Region One is the schools are already, in most cases, above the federal benchmark. Demonstrating adequate yearly progress can get tricky as the federal benchmark gets higher, Chamberlain said. But if schools don’t show that progress, they can be put on warning and denied grants and other financial aid.

All Region One officials emphasize that the testing samples are small and that one or two students with unusually high or low scores can change the results for a grade by a significant percentage.

For this reason, the state does not include scores for any classes that have fewer than 20 children. Only two grades at Lee H. Kellogg School in Falls Village had enough students to have their scores reported, for example.  Results for grades with more than 20 students can be seen online at cmtreports.com.

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