School district works to raise benchmark performance

EAST HAVEN —

Schools in East Haven are testing at below proficiency rates on the district’s benchmark, according to mid-year data shared by the school district.

But while data collected through testing — using the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills, or DIBELS, test, for K-3 and i-Ready for grades 4-12 — show proficiency rates meeting the set benchmark in many cases were low, they are improving.

A presentation by Jennifer Murrihy, the district’s assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction, showed that from the beginning of the 2021-22 school year to mid-year, K-2 students have become more proficient, according to DIBELS testing.

Kindergartners’ proficiency increased the most in that time period, growing from 20 percent meeting proficiency to 46 percent, while third-graders did not increase in proficiency, remaining at 50 percent from beginning to mid-year, according to the data presented.

The i-Ready test showed an increase in those meeting the proficiency benchmark for grades four and five compared to the beginning of the year, with fourth-graders at proficiency jumping from 22 percent to 35 percent and fifthgraders increasing from 21 percent to 32 percent.

Districtwide, grades six through 12 performed well on the i-Ready test, showing increases in phonics, high frequency words, vocabulary and more.

The i-Ready math test showed that the percentage of students at or above proficient in the subject increased districtwide since the beginning of the year, from 11 percent to 23 percent. “And we know that, obviously, we want and expect more growth than this, but what I think is really promising is even given the disruptions relative to student attendance, teacher attendance, in and out, sort of this revolving door, that there’s still growth being made here, so think about when we can alleviate some of those disruptions,” Superintendent of Schools Erica Forti said at a Board of Education meeting.

Students who did not hit benchmark may have still grown from the beginning of the year and the data can be used to find out what the growth trajectory is to make sure students hit the end-of-the-year mark.

Forti said in an email Friday that the data helps the administration make decisions about the support, resources, interventions and extensions required for academic growth and improvement.

To critics who say these rates are too low, Forti said focusing solely on proficiency levels does not give a realistic picture of how a student is doing.

“The state accountability system doesn't just hold us accountable for the percentage of students who meet proficiency levels, they also hold us accountable for student growth,” Forti said. “Just because a student doesn't meet a particular proficiency level, doesn't mean that student isn’t growing and developing academically or meeting their own academic growth target.”

Murrihy said the district also can tell how many grade levels a student may be behind, if any, and begin to help students move toward performing at or just under their grade level.

Low proficiency rates and below-average test performance is not a new problem for the school district, as depicted by state data prior to the pandemic.

The state collects data annually on exam performances across Connecticut and breaks it down by district-level and state-level data.

These test scores across grade levels in a district are combined to create an average performance score for students in the school district in a set subject, also known as the district performance index (DPI).

The most recent DPIs available are from the 201819 school year, as there was a waiver of state tests for the 2019-20 school year due to the pandemic.

According to the available data, East Haven Public Schools students were below the state target of 75. The state target number means students on average are performing solidly, or at a level 3; however, if the number is below 75, students’ achievement needs to improve.

For the 2018-19 school year, East Haven students performance in math was the lowest of the three subjects tested – language arts, math and science – with a performance index of 55.8.

In science, the performance index was slightly higher at 56.5 and students performed the best in language arts, scoring a 62.2.

Statewide, students earned a 63.1 performance index in math, 63.8 in science and 67.7 in language arts.

“We want our East Haven High School graduates to meet the benchmark because they are not tested on calculus, they're not tested on Algebra II-type type of concepts,” Murrihy said. “They're tested on concepts we need them to know and be able to work professionally in an adult life.”