Westport school officials today reported the latest results of the Connecticut Mastery Tests, given to fourth, sixth and eighth graders this past fall.
They said Westport students scored uniformly high, ranging from 81 to
94 per cent at or above the state goal.
An announcement said “year-to-year comparisons are not especially useful” because different groups of students are being examined.
It said this year such comparisons are particularly questionable since, in 2004, fewer special education students were exempted from the test or allowed to test out of grade level,” producing somewhat lower results in several categories.
“In general, longitudinal comparisons of two-years growth show scores up in four of the six categories, when comparing students who took the tests as fourth graders in 2002 and as sixth graders in 2004, and students who were in sixth grade in 2002 and are now in eighth grade,” the announcement said.
It added, “Again this growth is even more impressive given the change in the number of special education students in the groups.”
The announcement said Westport stacks up well within its Educational Reference Group (ERG), a cluster of 11 towns with comparable demographics.
On the nine subtests reported, Westport topped the ERG in two, tied for first place in one; came in second in one, fourth in one, fifth in two, sixth in one and eighth in one.
Individual studentsҒ scores have been reported to parents, the announcement said.
