The Connecticut Dept of Education released the results of the 2016 Smarter Balanced Assessment (SBA) for English Language Arts (ELA) and Mathematics on Thursday, Aug. 18.
The percent of Greenwich Public Schools students who met or exceeded expectations in English Language Arts in grades 3-8 increased from 72.7% in 2015 to 76% in 2016.
The percent of students who met or exceeded expectations in Mathematics in grades 3-8 increased from 63.7% in 2015 to 66.3% in 2016.
The 2015 SBA results served as the baseline for this new standardized assessment. It is important to note that for the 2016 administration of the ELA assessment, the State eliminated the writing performance task. The State has calibrated the 2015 District scores to reflect an accurate comparison of the two administrations of the assessment. This data is not yet available for individual schools.
“We are pleased to see improvement in student outcomes in English Language Arts and Mathematics as measured by the SBA from last year to this year,” said interim Superintendent Dr. Sal Corda. “It is important to keep in perspective that this is one year of academic data and only one component of our Comprehensive Assessment System, which is used to monitor academic growth. In Greenwich, in realizing the Vision of the Graduate, we pay attention to the academic, personal, and interpersonal growth of our students.”
The Greenwich Public Schools continue to report a strong participation rate, ranging from 98% to 100% and exceeding the federal requirements of 95%. A limited number of students did not participate in some assessments based on their classifications as Special Education and/or as English Language Learners.
Grade 11 Shift from SBA to SAT
The State Department of Education replaced the 2015 SBA for grade 11 students with the Connecticut School Day SAT. The 2016 scores were released earlier this month. It is important to remember that the CT SAT is a redesigned SAT to align with the Common Core Standards. Also new for the March 2016 administration of the SAT is that all 11th grade students statewide were expected to participate, unlike previous years where participation was optional.
We were pleased with the high participation rate in the CT SAT for Greenwich High School. This speaks to the high level of commitment of the Greenwich High School’s educators and all students. Upon initial review, we can determine that Greenwich High School students exceeded the state average by 55 percentage points in English Language Arts (ELA) and 73 percentage points in mathematics.
CMT/CAPT Science
The results of the Connecticut Mastery Test (CMT) in Science for grades 5 and 8, and the Connecticut Academic Performance Test (CAPT) in Science for grade 10 are not yet available. The District expects to receive the results once the State has completed its calibration of the data.
Next Steps:
Having received the data on Thursday, Aug 18, Greenwich Schools administrators will next begin an in-depth review of the the standardized assessment data.
An initial focus will be to look at the differentials in the results between schools, subgroups of students, and the ELA and Math SBA assessments.
All administrators will review the current status of student learning as measured by the standardized assessments and instructional practices to identify successes to celebrate and amplify, and areas of focus to address through school and program improvement plans.
The Board of Education is scheduled to receive a comprehensive report on the standardized assessment results in November, with additional updates and a more detailed analysis communicated through scheduled monitoring reports for STEM and Humanities in March and April 2017.