New Canaan loves to tout its school system, and last week the district got a lot more to brag about. The state Department of Education released results from this years Connecticut Mastery Tests on July 15. Superintendant of Schools David Abbey said he was mostly pleased with the towns scores.
Overall, our performance was very strong, again, really in all areas, Abbey said. All Connecticut public school students are required to take the CMTs, standardized tests that measure math, reading and writing in grades 3-8. Science is tested in grade 5 and 8. These tests are used to determine if a school is making "adequate yearly progress" under the federal No Child Left Behind law. The scores are measured as advanced, goal, proficient, basic and below basic.
New Canaans students did remarkably well based on raw scores. The district had at least 85 percent of its students reach the goal level in each category, except one. (Third-grade writing scores had 82.9 at goal.) And at least 94 percent of students measured proficient in each subject at every grade level. To put that in perspective, statewide about 60 percent of students have scores in the goal range, while 80-85 percent are considered proficient.
Abbey said he was particularly impressed by younger students reading scores. New Canaans third-, fourth- and fifth-graders all ranked among the top two in the state in that category, with 91, 89.9, and 91.9 percent at goal, respectively. Our kids are getting a great start in reading, Abbey said. Which is great, because reading is such a fundamental part of academic strength.
Of course, there will always be room for improvement. Abbey said that right now theyre still sifting through the wealth of information from the tests, doing a careful analysis of areas that might need work. But at first glance at least, New Canaans doing something right. Its a testament to the hard work of our teachers, and the excellent work that theyre doing, Abbey said.
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