PORTSMOUTH — The most recent standardized test results for Portsmouth public schools present a case of good news and bad news for the district.
The good news: Participation rates were …
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PORTSMOUTH — The most recent standardized test results for Portsmouth public schools present a case of good news and bad news for the district.
The good news: Participation rates were up sharply this year compared to 2015, especially at the high school level.
The bad news: While proficiency rates stayed about even overall, English scores dropped sharply at the high school, as did the math results at Hathaway Elementary School.
“We’re not exactly thrilled with the overall results,” said Thomas Kenworthy, assistant school superintendent. “We have a lot of work to do.”
The R.I. Department of Education released the results of the latest round of the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) assessments on Thursday.
Overall, Portsmouth exceeded the statewide achievements in both English language arts/literacy and mathematics. The district as a whole achieved 50 percent proficiency in English, compared to about 38 percent statewide. In math, about 43 percent of students achieved proficiency, compared to about 30 percent statewide.
But there were a few glaring slip-ups when comparing local results in 2016 and 2015.
Only 53.6 percent of Hathaway students were rated proficient in math in 2016, compared to 67.1 percent last year — a drop of more than 13 percent.
At the high school, the proficiency rate in English went from 54.8 percent in 2015 to 43.2 percent this year — a decrease of nearly 12 percent.
“Definitely that’s probably the biggest thing that stands out,” said Mr. Kenworthy, adding that the higher participation rate at the high school this year may have been a factor in the lower scores. “The high school at first glance looks like we had a dip there, but the participation rate more than doubled.”
More students took test
Last year, only about 48 percent of PHS students took the PARCC test, but this year the participation rate jumped to 94 percent.
“We did a good job in raising our low participation rate. We made a concerted effort around that last year and we had a public forum and answered questions. That was an important step,” said Mr. Kenworthy, adding that strong participation rates are necessary when educators are analyzing assessment results.
Melville Elementary School boasted a 100 percent participation rate in PARCC this year, and its math scores showed a strong increase — from 50.7 percent proficiency in 2015 to about 63 percent in 2016.
The middle school, which serves more grade levels than any other Portsmouth school, “fluctuated by grade, but as a whole went up,” Mr. Kenworthy said.
Since the most recent PARCC results were released on Thursday, administrators haven’t had a chance to fully absorb and analyze the data, Mr. Kenworthy said. A full report will be presented to the School Committee on Sept. 12.
“In a couple of weeks, we’ll have a more detailed breakdown,” he said.