Superintendent’s Message
2/2007

October 2006 New England Common Assessment Program Testing (NECAP) Testing District Results

On January 30^th, 2007, the New Hampshire Department of Education released the October 2006 New England Common Assessment Program (NECAP) Testing results in Grades 3-8.  The district results show that students met or exceeded proficiency achievement levels in reading by 66%, in math by 55%, and in writing by 41%.  Comparing the achievement results to 2005 in the data chart below, we increased proficiency levels in reading by 1%, scored the same in math, and decreased in writing by 14%.

The data indicates that we have only maintained the 2005 reading and math proficiency achievement levels.  It also shows that we must make writing a priority and integrate it into all subject areas while increasing student learning results in reading and math.  It is clear that we have work to do for improving the learning results in this district. I wish we had shown more learning gains, however, I am not detoured in any way that we will make improvements.

The teachers and administrators have only started in September 2006 in getting the training they need for understanding assessment data, analyzing it, and then determining how they will use it for effective lesson planning.  We also just completed in January 2007, aligning our curriculum to state standards as well as vocabulary and higher level questioning techniques that teachers will receive in February 2007 for classroom implementation. To get better results, we have to focus and that is what we have begun to do this year.  More detail is described throughout this newsletter. 

It did not take one, two, or even five years to be where we are with this data. It will take at least three to five years to begin to see the long term continuous improvement results with some of the best practice strategies that we started implementing in September of 2006.  The data reveals some of the brutal facts that we must face as a district in need of improvement with no excuses.  We are where we are and we will focus on providing teachers with support and training in the best practices that research has shown to be effective for higher student achievement.

*The New Hampshire Department of Education will inform school districts of their No Child Left Behind Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) designation in June 2007.