Salem Shows NECAP Improvements

On Tuesday night, SAU 57 Superintendent Michael Delahanty told the Salem School Board local students have improved on standardized testing, but further improvements are needed.

"Our students did pretty well this year," said Delahanty in reference to the recently-released New England Common Assessment Program results from fall 2011 testing. "I say that with some reluctance because we're never satisfied with as close to the state average as we were this year."

The following table shows the percentage of students who were proficient or better on the fall NECAP the last two years for the Salem School District and the state of New Hampshire. Note: reading and math include scores for grades 3 through 8 and grade 11 while writing scores include grades 5, 8 and 11.

Delahanty went through some specifics with the scores dating back several years which did not show a great deal of consistency for specific classes through the years.

"I'm not really sure any longer how much we can learn from the NECAP," Delahanty said, citing the introduction of numerous programs in the school district.

He said current Salem eighth grade students scored 69 percent proficient in math and this group represented the first grade one class to have everyday math. Although the state average was 68 percent, Delahanty called the Salem score "discouraging."

"Rest assured we are working with different assessment instruments," Delahanty said. "No one is ignoring these kinds of scores, but we believe our children are better than what these scores reflect."

Delahanty said the district will learn in April if they have made adequate yearly progress, or AYP, based on the NECAP scores.

There was also discussion about the future of the NECAP and there has been some development of new tests to replace the NECAP. One, Delahanty said, is called the SMARTER Balance Assessment Initiative. A consortium of 36 states, including New Hampshire, is involved in that development.

"The expectation is it will be ready in the spring of 2015," Delahanty said. Under that system, the final year for the NECAP testing would be 2013-2014.

School Board Chairman Peter Morgan said he was concerned that the NECAPs were solely becoming a barometer of how Salem does compared to the state. He wasn't sure how much more information the district could get out of the test.

"We've been pretty consistent there," Morgan said in relation to Salem's performance compared to the state.