Wilton Test Scores on the Rise

By and large, Wilton's student test scores are on the rise but don't always compare favorably with other area towns.

The Board of Education met and discussed its 2008-09 Testing Report last week, a nearly 300-page document that breaks down the Connecticut Mastery Test, Connecticut Academic Performance Test, Standardized Aptitude Test, and Advanced Placement Exams, and also includes information on college attendance and comparisons to the other towns (New Canaan, Darien, Easton, Redding, Weston, Ridgefield, and Westport) in District Reference Group (DRG) A.

The Connecticut Mastery Test (CMT) is administered to students in grades three through eight in the spring, falling in March during 2009. Ninety-five percent of students must participate in the testing to achieve Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP), which Wilton met overwhelmingly.

All groups and subgroups at Middlebrook School met the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) benchmarks in Math and Reading, and thus were considered to have met AYP standards. At Cider Mill School, the special education group was the only one not to meet the NCLB benchmarks, however it did improve its proficiency in Math and Reading by ten percent from the previous year.

There were slight dips in eighth grade Math scores meeting state and NCLB goals between 2008 and 2009, and more notable dips in grades 3, 5, 6, and 8 in Writing scores using the same criteria. But, on the whole, Wilton's scores rose (in some cases significantly) compared to 2008.

Within its DRG, Wilton was second to last in grades three and five in terms of the percent of its students achieving state goals in Math, and in the middle of the pack at the other grade levels. It was second highest in grade three, and near the top in other grades in Reading scores, and again toward the bottom of the pack in Writing.

The Connecticut Academic Performance Test (CAPT) is administered in the spring to all students in grade ten and those in grade eleven who did not pass it the first time. As in the CMTs, Wilton easily met the participation requirement for AYP.

Also like the CMTs, Wilton High School students met or exceeded the accountability benchmarks in Math and Reading, thus achieving AYP, and scores were generally up across the board. One exception was in scores meeting and exceeding state and NCLB Goals, where there was a slight dip in the Science category.

By the same criteria, Wilton students finished higher than any other school in their DRG in the Math category, and were near the top in Science, Reading, and Writing, as well.