Math CMT Scores Improve, Writing Needs Improving

The average math scores for Newtown students at every grade improved or stayed the same for the third year in a row on the Connecticut Mastery Test, according to results released on Thursday.

At the same time, average reading scores declined for fourth and fifth graders and average writing scores declined for every grade except fifth and sixth.

"This year we see that our math scores continue to slightly improve," Newtown Assistant Superintendent Linda Gejda said. "For the most part our reading scores are continuing to improve…The area that I have seen change is in our writing scores."

The CMTs were administered by the state to about 25,000 students to assess their mathematics, reading and writing skills and knowledge from third grade to eighth grade and science skills and knowledge from fifth grade to eight grade. It's an annual test that was first administered in its current format in 2006.

In Newtown, average writing scores experienced a decline from last year in third, fourth, seventh and eighth grade, though in fourth grade, the percentages of students at or above goal and proficiency actually experienced slight increases.

Average writing scores for fifth and sixth graders stayed the same or improved from last year.

The local scores were similar to the trends found at the state level, which reported slight downturns in writing scores among third, seventh and eighth grade.

Average reading scores, as well as the percentage of students at goal or proficiency in fourth grade took a dip this year, which also was the case at the state level.

However, Newtown fifth graders, as compared to their peers at the state level, saw increases in their average reading scores and percentage of students reading at or above goal. At the same time, the percentage of fifth graders reading at or above proficiency actually declined from last year.

Math remained a bright spot, as Newtown has historically done well in that area, with 80 to 90-percent of students at goal level.

Gejda said the district will spend many weeks and months analyzing the data at the district as well as school wide level.

"We do use that information as we plan for the next year," she said.