By Abbe Smith

Newly released Connecticut Mastery Test results showed a positive trend in student achievement and slow, but steady, progress in closing the achievement gap.

But scores also revealed the need for more improvement across the board.

The CMT measures achievement in third through eighth grades in mathematics, reading and writing. Students in fifth and eighth grades also are tested in science. In all, 250,000 students were tested statewide last year.

“This year’s test results show that from 2006 to 2010, there is a positive trend of improved student achievement across all six grades and academic disciplines, which is encouraging. Our students are performing better, but challenges remain,” state Education Commissioner Mark K. McQuillan said in a written statement.

The state continues to struggle with an achievement gap between white and minority students and between well-off and lower-income students.

McQuillan said he was pleased to see improvements in performance of students across the board, including “somewhat larger gains by minority and economically disadvantaged students.” However, while data show positive movement toward closing the achievement gap, McQuillan added, “we should all be concerned with the 30 percentage point gaps in performance among racial and economic groups that persist. We need to do more to help all children succeed.”

Depending on the grade level and subject, scores were up and down this year over last year. But the state saw a general improvement in student scores, particularly in sixth to eighth grades. Compared with last year, elementary and middle school students generally showed improvement at the “proficient” and “goal” levels for all subjects except writing.

The “proficient” level is used to identify schools and districts making Adequate Yearly Progress under the federal No Child Left Behind act. “Goal” level is more challenging than “proficient” level and is the state target for student performance.

For math, statewide percentages for 2010 exceeded 2009 results by 2 to 3 percentage points. By 2010, at least 63 percent of students across the state scored at or above goal level for math, while 84 percent met or exceeded the proficient standard.

For reading, the state saw more variability in the percentage of students scoring at or above the goal level. However, the overall trend remains positive.

Some of the biggest gains were made by economically disadvantaged students. The state’s report shows students who were eligible to receive free or reduced-priced meals — an indicator of level of need — posted much higher gains than their peers who pay full price. The trend represents more evidence the achievement gap based on economic need is narrowing, the report says.

The scores also show white students continue to outperform black and Hispanic students across the board. However, data reveal dramatic increases from 2009 to 2010 for black and Hispanic students when compared with white students.

Alex Johnston, chief executive officer for Connecticut Coalition for Achievement Now and New Haven Board of Education member, said the gains are encouraging, but the state has a long way to go in closing the gap.

“The persistence of this gap underscores the need for bold leadership in the governor’s office and in the state Department of Education to drive comprehensive statewide reform so we can finally close this unacceptable achievement gap,” he said.

Locally, scores for students at New Haven public schools showed mixed improvements and declines, but generally followed the state’s upward trend in content areas, except writing. New Haven continued to perform consistently lower than the state average in all grades and content areas for the goal and proficient levels. However, New Haven outpaced state averages in terms of growth at the proficient level, meaning the school district is slowly catching up.

Other local districts also closely followed state trends.

West Haven Superintendent of Schools Neil Cavallaro said he just started reviewing his district’s results, but noted middle school scores went up while elementary schools stayed the same.

“It looks like we trended right along with the state, that’s our first reaction,” Cavallaro said. “Again, we’re more interested to see AYP results and be able to compare, which we haven’t done, to other districts, especially in the (district reference group).”

Seymour Superintendent of Schools MaryAnne Mascolo said she was pleased with progress Seymour is making on CMT scores. She stressed “CMTs are good assessments; however, they are only one measure of what makes a student successful, and I do not want people to lose sight of that fact.”

North Branford Superintendent Scott Schoonmaker said his district saw an increase in all areas except third-grade writing scores, which decreased, and eighth-grade writing scores, which did not change.

Schoonmaker credited student success to a recently launched reading program, an upgraded math curriculum and the work of teachers.

“We were very pleased with the results,” Schoonmaker said. “I’m thrilled and excited to continue to monitor our growth over time.”

Hamden public schools also closely mirrored state trends. Board of Education Chairman Michael C. D’Agostino said he was pleased with the CMT results.

“There is, of course, more room for improvement and work to be done,” he said, “but these results confirm what we have always maintained — the longer students remain in our school system, the better they perform.”

Staff reporters Amanda Pinto, Susan Misur, Ann DeMatteo and Lauren Garrison contributed to this story. Call Abbe Smith at 203-789-5615.

On the following chart, the data is broken down by grade level. The first group of school districts and scores is for grade 3, the second is for grade 4, the third for grade 5 and likewise all the way to grade 8.
 

Connecticut CMT 2010