Winsted K-8 CMT results low, some bright spots

WINSTED — Winchester public school students achieved a mixed bag of results on the 2010 Connecticut Mastery Test (CMT), with the majority of the district’s grades receiving lower than average proficiency scores compared to last year’s numbers.

The district’s third- and eighth-graders, however, were a bright spot of academic achievement, with those students scoring proficiency gains throughout the standardized test and finishing above the state average in most content areas.

The CMT is administered annually to all of the state’s students in grades three to eight. It tests competency in the core academic areas of mathematics, reading and writing. The state’s fifth- and eighth-graders are also tested in science.

The state Department of Education released the 2010 CMT scores on July 15.

For the CMT, five levels of student performance are reported: below basic, basic, proficient, goal and advanced.

The percentage of students scoring at or above the proficient level on the CMT is used to identify schools and districts that are making Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) under the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation.

If a school or subgroup within the school does not achieve annual yearly progress in the same content area for two consecutive years, the school is identified as “in need of improvement.†These districts and schools must work with the state to develop and implement a two-year improvement plan.

Last year, both Batcheller Elementary School and Hinsdale Elementary School were identified as “in need of improvement†by the state based on their 2009 CMT results. Also, Pearson Middle School was identified as having subgroups not meeting AYP standards in reading and math.

But Marilyn Celadon, the district’s curriculum coordinator, said Batcheller was removed from the list of schools in need of improvement after Winchester changed its configuration last September.

According to the state education department, last year 406 schools, some 40 percent of Connecticut’s public schools, did not meet annual yearly progress standards.

The biggest jumps in CMT proficiency scoring among Winchester students this year were achieved by Pearson’s eighth-graders, who made double digit gains in math, reading and writing, as well as an 8.2 percentage point increase over 2009 results in science.

The district’s third-graders also performed well, making small gains across the board over last year’s scores and finishing above the state proficiency average in all three areas tested.

And, Pearson’s sixth-grade students made a 0.6 point gain in reading proficiency.

All of the remaining grade levels, however, lost ground over 2009 CMT scoring results, while also finishing below the state proficiency average in each of the academic content areas tested.

The district’s fourth-graders particularly struggled this year, averaging a 59.6 proficiency level in reading, a 15.4 point drop from last year’s scores.

But Celadon said while there were some areas of concern — which the administration will be addressing over the summer — overall, district officials were pleased with this year’s results, because they reflected continued academic progress among the various student cohorts, or grade levels.

“As the kids get older and go through the system, their performance improves ... and I’m excited about that,†she said.

In addition, Celadon said Winchester students scored 80 percent or better in 11 of the 18 individual reading, writing and math categories tested.

The state CMT proficiency goal for math is 82 percent, for reading 79 percent and for writing 70 percent.

“In the majority of cases, we did make the AYP,†she said, adding that the state still needs to complete its full review of the district’s student performance before making a final determination as to whether or not Winchester schools met 2010 NCLB goals.

For a complete listing of scoring results for the 2010 CMT, visit the state Department of Education’s student assessment website at
ctreports.com.