Mastery Test Results Reflect Plainville Students' Progress
The Connecticut Mastery Test is now in its fourth generation. Prior to 2006, the CMT was given in the fall to students in grades 4, 6, and 8 only. In 2006, the test was administered to all students in grades three through eight, and the testing period was moved to March. As in the past, students across the state were tested in three areas: Reading, Writing, and Mathematics. Each student’s reading performance is measured by a reading comprehension test as well as a test of their Degrees of Reading Power. In writing, students are tested on their editing and revising skills as well as their ability to write a complete, detailed, well-organized and elaborated narrative, expository, or persuasive essay. The mathematics tests require students to solve problems with and without calculators, as well as to create graphs, interpret information, and communicate their mathematical thinking.
The following table summarizes the percentage of Plainville students at each grade level who met or exceeded the very high state goal as well as the percentage of students who met the NCLB standard of proficient.
Reading
Writing
Mathematics
Grade
% At/Above Goal
% At/Above Proficient
% At/Above Goal
% At/Above Proficient
% At/Above Goal
% At/Above Proficient
Plainville
State
Plainville
State
Plainville
State
Plainville
State
Plainville
State
Plainville
State
3
60.9
54.4
79.3
69.2
74.4
61.0
91.7
81.7
62.4
56.3
82.1
78.3
4
60.3
57.8
76.0
71.8
72.9
62.8
88.4
72.9
60.0
58.8
80.0
80.3
5
64.1
60.9
75.6
72.8
79.3
65
93.8
85.3
67.0
60.7
84.7
80.8
6
62.0
63.6
73.7
75.4
67.6
62.2
83.1
82.7
49.5
58.6
79.9
79.8
7
71.0
66.7
84.9
76.4
67.2
60.0
86.1
80.9
52.9
57.0
78.2
77.8
8
66.5
66.7
77.1
76.6
67.7
62.4
82.3
81.9
51.8
58.3
80.7
78.9
It is difficult to make comparisons to prior years due to the new generation of the test and due to the fact that the test administration period was moved from late September to March. However, we can compare performance of the same group of students as they moved from the fall of fourth grade to the spring of fifth grade, and another group of students as they moved from the fall of sixth grade to the spring of seventh grade. The table below summarizes this information:
Reading
Writing
Mathematics
Gr 4 Fall, 2004
Gr 5 Spring, 2006
Gr 4 Fall, 2004
Gr 5 Spring, 2006
Gr 4 Fall, 2004
Gr 5 Spring, 2006
54%
64%
67%
79%
57%
67%
Gr 6 Fall, 2004
Gr 7 Spring, 2006
Gr 6 Fall, 2004
Gr 7 Spring, 2006
Gr 6 Fall, 2004
Gr 7 Spring, 2006
61%
71%
62%
67%
57%
53%
In all three subjects, there is strong growth as students move from the fall of grade 4 to the spring of grade 5. There is equally strong growth in reading as our students move from the fall of grade 6 to the spring of grade 7. Writing for this group of students shows a five percentage point gain, and we see a four percentage point decline in mathematics as this particular group of sixth grade students moved to seventh grade.
“We are pleased with the progress demonstrated in the core subject areas of Reading, Writing and Mathematics, and continue our district wide focus on higher student achievement through continuous improvement,” commented Dr. Kathleen Binkowski, Superintendent of Schools.
-Posted on August 14, 2006 at 09:37 AM
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