NEWPORT, R.I. – Results of the fall 2009 New England Common Assessment Program (NECAP) tests in reading, mathematics, and writing were released Wednesday, and the results were mixed for Aquidneck Island schools.
According to the Department of Education, while Newport saw gains in its reading comprehension, scores declined slightly on the math side, and overall scores still lag behind the statewide average in both categories.
In 2009, 64 percent of students in Newport tested at or above proficiency in reading, with just 44 percent testing at or above proficiency in math. That compares to the state-wide average of 70 percent proficiency in reading, and 54 percent in math.
However, the district scores don’t tell the whole story. Students at Roger’s High School, for example, posted an impressive 15.4 percent year over year gain in reading comprehension, and 8.8 percent gain in math. The percentage gains at Roger’s should not be overlooked. According to the RIDE report, they were by far the biggest improvement out of any school, K-12, on the island.
On the middle school level, students at Thompson saw a slight improvement in reading scores of 0.3 percent, but declined in math by 2.7 percent.
Results were a bit more mixed from the city’s elementary schools. Students at Cranston-Calvert (-2.7 percent), Coggeshall (-11.7 percent), and Underwood (-0.2 percent) posted slight to significant declines in reading, while students at the Sullivan school saw a double-digit (13.2 percent) improvement in scores. In Math, results were also mixed, with Coggeshall (-6.2 percent) and Cranston-Calvert (-7.3 percent) both experiencing declining test scores, while Underwood (3.4 percent) and Sullivan (0.8 percent) saw year over year improvements.
District-wide, Middletown outperformed the state average with 72 percent of students testing at or above proficiency in reading and 67 percent in math; but those scores were off by 2.8 percent and 2.5 percent, respectively from the previous year, and marked the third straight year of decline in reading proficiency as a district.
Further up-island, Portsmouth continued its strong performance as the only island school system to experience across the board gains, with 84 percent of students in reading and 75 percent in math testing at or above proficiency. For a detailed look at how Portsmouth schools fared, check out John McDaid’s analysis at Hard Deadlines.
On a state-wide level, high-school scores improved significantly in reading (73% proficient, up 4 points) and writing (55% proficient, up 13 points), but were unchanged in math.
“Today’s results don’t show the progress that we would like to see, but some schools and districts have made significant gains,” said Robert G. Flanders, Jr., Esq., chairman of the board of Regents for Elementary and Secondary Education. “We need to learn from these improving schools and districts and we need to expand their work to prepare all of our students for success in college, careers, and life.”
Deborah A. Gist, commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education agreed. “While there are some gains in our 2009 test scores, we’re not anywhere close to where we need to be,” she said. “Though I am pleased with the improvements in reading and writing scores at our high schools, I am concerned that achievement gaps persist and have even widened, especially in mathematics.”
The NECAP tests in reading and mathematics were administered jointly in October 2009 to students in grades 3-8 and in Rhode Island, Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. At the high- school level (grade 11), Rhode Island, New Hampshire, and Vermont students were tested in reading, mathematics, and writing. NECAP is the only multistate testing program in the nation. Rhode Island scores have improved in all tests at all school levels since the first year of NECAP testing (2005 for grades 3-8, 2007 for grade 11).
This year, the Rhode Island reading score for grades 3-8 matched the Maine score (70% proficient), and the Rhode Island high-school reading score (73% proficient) matched New Hampshire and surpassed Maine and Vermont. The Rhode Island writing score (55% proficient) was the best of the three tested states.
To view the full report, visit the state Department of Education’s Web site at www.RIDE.ri.gov/assessments/default.aspx.
Loading ...
Newport, RI
