Message
from Superintendent
Michael Kohlhagen
WORKING
TOGETHER FOR STUDENT SUCCESS
Dear
Parents, Community Members, Families, and Staff,
One of the
many measures of our school district’s academic success is
determined by a series of state standardized tests: the
Connecticut Mastery Test (CMT) in grades 3 through 8, and
the Connecticut Academic Performance Test (CAPT) required
for all 10th graders. We also look at student performance
data from a number of national measures such as the
Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT), American College Test (ACT),
and Advanced Placement tests (AP) in the various content
areas, all of which serve to benchmark our progress in
teaching and learning.
I’m very
pleased to report that the results from all of these 2009
assessments showed significant gains and improvement across
the grades and in all of our schools compared to similar
school districts, as well as all districts across the
state. Moreover, Wethersfield students consistently score
higher than the state averages in all the content areas -
Mathematics, Reading, Writing and Science. Some highlights
of our K – 8 students’ performance are as follows:
*
District-wide Grade 3 Mathematics and Reading scores
improved 5.8 and 5.0 percentage points. This is a direct
result of the implementation of our research-based Math
program and our two-year professional development program in
early literacy training, both of which use common formative
assessments to drive instruction.
*
District-wide Grade 5 increased scores across the board in
Mathematics (+4.0), Reading (+8.6), Writing (+4.7), and
Science (+10.9). These big jumps in all content areas are
directly attributable to the intensive, interdisciplinary,
collaborative reading and writing in the Science content
area led by our Literacy and Math/Science supervisors.
*
District-wide 6th graders made significant gains in Reading
(+7.4), held steady in Mathematics, and increased by 3.7
percentage points in Writing.
* In 8th
grade, Wethersfield students again made significant gains
across the content areas with a 2.7 percentage point
increase in Mathematics, a 14.2 percentage point increase in
Reading, a 4.1 percentage point increase in Writing, and a
7.0 percentage point increase in Science.
These
notable outcomes reflect the collaborative efforts of our
Central Office leadership, principals, teachers, support
staff, and parents, and have resulted in similar gains made
by our students at the high school level:
* With
respect to the 10th grade CAPT test, there was a 9
percentage point increase in Reading, which represents the
largest increase ever in any area of the CAPT test at
Wethersfield High School.
*
Seventy-five percent of the graduating class took the
Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) exam in 2009 and scored
significantly higher in all three areas over last year: a 19
point increase in Mathematics, 15 points higher in Reading,
and 10 points higher in Writing.
* There were
significant increases in the American College Test (ACT)
over last year in all four areas – Mathematics, English,
Reading, and Science.
* Finally,
when we look at Advanced Placement (AP) testing, the number
of high school students taking AP exams, as well as the
number of exams taken, was the highest in the past five
years. More importantly, the number of students scoring a 3
or better increased from 80% in 2008 to 86% in 2009.
The
impressive progress that students have made in all of these
assessment measures can be attributed to intensive staff
development and to our Board of Education’s commitment to
the school reform that is necessary in preparing our
students for the challenges of the 21st Century. I invite
you to view the complete
2009 District-wide Academic
Achievement document by clicking here*,
or the
slide presentation* by clicking
here.
Our
Wethersfield Public Schools system is committed to
excellence in all areas, and although we have many
achievements that define our success by more than just test
scores, these assessments acknowledge our place as a
competitive, high-performing District that we can be proud
of.
Let’s make
this another great school year!
Michael
Kohlhagen
Superintendent of Schools
Superintendent's Archived Messages
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