BRUNSWICK — After receiving results from a statewide standardized test, Brunswick school officials say expectations for the district’s youngest students need to be higher.
At a School Board meeting Wednesday, administrators presented results from the New England Common Assessment Program (NECAP), which is Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and Rhode Island’s accountability test under the federal No Child Left Behind law.
In general, the results show students starting the test in third grade on par with or just below state averages. Students in grades 3-8 take NECAP reading and math tests, and students in grades 5 and 8 take writing tests.
District- wide, just more than 75 percent of students in grades 3-8 exceeded state standards in reading — 3.6 percent above the state average — and just more than 67 percent of those students exceeded math standards — 4 percent above the state average.
According to the results presented Wednesday, as students progress on to higher grades, performance increases and the difference from state averages widens.
“It’s clear to us as well that K-2 — our expectations for these kids academically needs to be higher,” Assistant Superintendent Greg Bartlett said.
Bartlett said some schools of thought view those students as being at “a nurturing age where we don’t want them to experience failure,” but Bartlett said students in kindergarten through second grade need to be challenged more academically to address learning gaps.
Test results from the NECAP aren’t the only figures that district officials review, Bartlett said, but he did offer suggestions Wednesday about changes that could be made to assessment at Coffin School to better prepare students for the test.
In his presentation, Bartlett said changes could include a new writing rubric, refining the use of assessments from the Maine Math and Science Alliance, and a standardsbased literacy curriculum.
Bartlett said that the performance of Brunswick Junior High School students needing help through a Response to Intervention ( RTI) protocol is showing greater impact as enrollment has declined.
“Our numbers are down, so that it’s more manageable,” Bartlett said.
To see Bartlett and School Service Director Paul Austin’s full analysis of the test results presented Wednesday, visit http://ow.ly/9JMnt.
dfishell@timesrecord.com
Comments are not available on this story. Read more about why we allow commenting on some stories and not on others.
We believe it's important to offer commenting on certain stories as a benefit to our readers. At its best, our comments sections can be a productive platform for readers to engage with our journalism, offer thoughts on coverage and issues, and drive conversation in a respectful, solutions-based way. It's a form of open discourse that can be useful to our community, public officials, journalists and others.
We do not enable comments on everything — exceptions include most crime stories, and coverage involving personal tragedy or sensitive issues that invite personal attacks instead of thoughtful discussion.
You can read more here about our commenting policy and terms of use. More information is also found on our FAQs.
Show less