Wilton's CMT, CAPT Test Scores Show Strength

Wilton students generally performed well in recently released Connecticut academic tests, according to the district's assistant superintendent.

Dr. Charles Smith, who heads the school system's curriculum and instruction efforts, said officials are still crunching the numbers, but overall Wilton students continue to show progress.

“We are currently in the process of analyzing the results, but can say at this point that they were generally very positive,” said Smith. “Students in Wilton continue to perform quite well.”

Specific numbers were not immediately available, but a vast majority of Wilton's students met or exceeded goals in math, reading, writing and science, the areas tested, according to the state.

But Smith said the district will release a comprehensive report on the Connecticut Academic Performance Test (CAPT) and the Connecticut Mastery Test (CMT) results in the fall.

“In October of this year, we will present a thorough analysis of student performance on multiple measures of achievement to the Wilton Board of Education,” said Smith. “At that point we will be in a better position to make specific recommendations for continued enhancements to our instructional program.”

Those recommendations will focus on the new core curriculum the state is in the midst of implementing in all districts. The current tests do not take into account the new curriculum, so the state is devising new standardized tests to handle that.

“It is important to keep in mind that the current CAPT/CMT assessments are not designed to measure student learning relative to the new Common Core State Standards adopted by the State Board of Education in 2010,” said Smith. “The Wilton Public Schools, like other Connecticut school districts, will most likely be concentrating our instructional improvement efforts on preparing for the future Common Core-aligned assessments.”