Principal ‘pleased’ with CMT scores

KENT— The results from Connecticut Mastery Tests (CMT) that students took last spring have been analyzed by area schools. Kent Center School Principal Rima McGeehan said students here showed progress from last year’s tests.

“In comparing the results to how we did last year, there were great gains in many areas,� she said in an e-mail to The Journal. “There are 15 areas to compare to, in math, reading and writing. We’ve gone up in 11 of those 15 areas, with the other areas comparable to last year’s performance.�

The CMTs were administered in April to students in grades three through eight; those students are now in grades four through nine.

The 2009 tests are called the “fourth generation� CMTs and include tests in math, reading, writing and, for students in grades five to eight, science.

Students are determined to be at or above “proficient� and at or above “goal� — which requires a higher score than proficiency.

In math, the sixth grade scored highest, with 92.3 percent of the class reaching or exceeding goal and 96.2 scoring as proficient.

In the seventh grade, 82.8 percent of the class met goal, but 100 percent of the students reached the proficient.

In the fifth grade, 82.6 percent of the class scored at or above  goal, with 95.7 percent reaching proficiency.

While 71.4 percent of the eighth-grade class scored at or above goal, 95.2 percent scored at the proficient.

The third and fourth grade classes did not do as well. Only 65.5 percent of the fourth grade reached goal, with 86.2 percent reaching proficiency.

In the third grade, 72.4 percent met goal and 79.3 percent were proficient.

The third-grade class also had the highest percentage of students who scored below the basic level, 17.2 percent.

In reading, the seventh grade scored higher than the other classes, with 92.9 percent of the class scoring at goal and at proficient. All students who meet proficient are included in the tally of students who meet goal.

The sixth-grade class had 89.3 percent at goal, but 96.4 percent of the class reached proficient.

Coming in with slightly lower scores is the fifth-grade class, with 87 percent reaching goal and 95.7 percent reaching proficient.

The eighth-grade class had 76.2 percent reach goal and 81 percent reach proficient, while the third grade had 72 percent reach goal and 82 percent reach proficient.

The fourth grade struggled with the test, with 65.5 percent at goal and 75.9 percent proficient.

In writing, both the fifth grade and eighth grade came out with the highest results from the school, with 91.3 percent of the fifth grade reaching goal and 100 percent reaching proficient.

In the eighth grade, 90.5 percent reached goal and 95.2 percent reached proficient.

In the sixth grade, 80.6 percent reached goal and 83.9 percent reached proficient. In the seventh grade, 79.3 percent reached goal and 89.7 percent reached proficient.

In the third grade, 75.9 percent reached goal and 86.2 reached proficient. The lowest scoring class was the fourth grade, with 65.5 percent reaching goal and 93.1 percent reaching proficient.

Numbers were high for the science portion of the test, which was only given to students in five and eighth grades. The entire fifth-grade class reached goal, while 81 percent in the eighth grade reached goal; 100 percent of students in both classes reached the proficient level.

“In October, grade levels will meet to analyze specific strengths and areas of need,� McGeehan said.

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