Vernon Students Exceed State Average in English, Math And Science

VERNON, CT — As Vernon public school students get set for Thursday's first day of school for the 2023-24 academic year, statistics show they have outperformed the state average in the latest Connecticut Smarter Balanced Assessments.

The test results were released Monday by the state Department of Education.

Vernon education officials said, while school districts across the state continue to work to recover from the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic, Vernon’s focus on "maximizing student learning for all children" is showing positive results.

"We are extremely pleased with the growth on the Smarter Balanced Assessment by our students in grades 3 through 8 in English Language Arts, Mathematics and Science," Vernon Superintendent of Schools Joseph Macary said. "The hard work and efforts of our students, teachers, families, staff and administration are paying off. We are proud of the students' results and their increased achievement. Next year, we will do even better."

In the 2023 Smarter Balanced results, Vernon students:

• Exceeded the state average in all three test areas – English Language Arts, Mathematics and Science.
• In Vernon’s District Reference Group, Vernon students were No. 1 in Mathematics, No. 1 in English Language Arts and No. 2 in Science.
• Of the 33 Connecticut Alliance Districts, Vernon students' scores were No. 1 in both English Language Arts and Math results.

"These results are even more impressive considering we were still coming out of the learning disruptions caused by the Covid-19 health pandemic," Macary said. "We are making significant progress with student learning and moving the needle on student achievement."

Key to Vernon's progress is "quality core instruction" in every classroom, what Macary described as "effective interventions that help students who are below grade level in English Language Arts and math to catch up, and special education supports for kids with disabilities to help them overcome obstacles to achieve growth."

Test scores tell only part of a school or district’s story, he added.

Student growth provides a more accurate measure of how schools contribute to student learning by demonstrating achievement over time. Students start each year with different levels of knowledge. Measuring growth shows how well a school is helping students learn, he said.

"We have impressive growth considering we just went through a pandemic, but we’re never satisfied,” Macary said. "We will never stop helping our kids keep moving forward. We know they can do it."