Parish Hill test scores take leap
Robert Dubos
Students’increase is biggest in state
Chaplin, Conn. —
Parish Hill Regional Middle/High School recently was recognized by a
statewide education advocacy group for making the most improvement on
state exam scores from 2010 to 2011.
The Connecticut Coalition for Achievement Now, or ConnCAN, named
Parish Hill High School No. 1 on its list of Top 10 schools for
improvement in 2011. According to the group, Parish Hill 10th-graders
made a 16.8 percent jump in the number of students scoring at or above
goal on the Connecticut Academic Performance Test from 2010 to 2011.
When the school learned of the distinction earlier this month,
Principal Dori Smith said she congratulated students during the
morning announcements. She said she could hear students’ cheers from
her office.
“That, to me, is probably the most important — they are gaining a
sense of pride in themselves,” Smith said.
Shortly after students returned this fall, the school celebrated its
test scores with schoolwide ice cream sundaes. But Smith said
promoting pride and awareness in the student body is only part of the
equation. The other part is hard work.
Up from bottom
Facing dismal test scores and another effort by community members to
dissolve the regional district, school officials set out to work on an
improvement plan. Parish Hill serves the state’s Regional School
District 11, which is composed of the towns of Chaplin, Hampton and
Scotland. About 300 seventh- through 12th-grade students attend the
school.
Smith said efforts for schoolwide improvement really went into full
gear about three years ago. The school analyzed individual students’
test scores in all subjects. It instituted writing and math labs.
Students who need extra help are referred to the labs by their
teachers.
They also started the school success skills program three years ago, a
mandatory class for all seventh-grade students to help with the
transition from the elementary school to the middle/high school. Smith
said students learn organizational skills, research and paper-writing
skills and a lot of Connecticut Mastery Test preparation.
There are numerous efforts happening in each classroom, as well.
Inside Kathleen Sundberg’s eighth-grade math class, students complete
a warm-up exercise every day. These are sets of sample CMT questions,
which the students are quizzed on each Friday. Sundberg said
familiarizing the students with the types of questions they’ll have to
answer on the standardized tests has helped.
“We should continue to see great improvements,” Sundberg said.
But the efforts are now reaching outside of the school. Last year,
school officials began what they call “vertical teaming.” Every two
months, teachers and administrators from Parish Hill meet with
teachers and administrators from the three sending elementary schools.
Smith describes this effort as “critical.”
For now, the group is focusing on math, specifically on ensuring all
teachers are working from a common language. For instance, all
students will learn that the numeral 10.4 should be read “10 and four-
tenths” rather than “10-point-four.”
Smith said she’s proud of how far the school has come, but is focused
more on continuing to improve. Though the school has seen great
improvement, this year’s scores were still a few percentage points
behind the state achievement levels in every category except math.
Parent Kelly Johnson said she is glad to hear of the school improving,
especially because she has one child in the middle school and another
in elementary school in the district.
“I know they’ve come a long way, so it’s good to see,” Johnson said.
Copyright 2011 The Bulletin. Some rights reserved
By the numbers: Parish Hill CAPT scores
Parish Hill Regional Middle/High School improvements in CAPT scores in
2011
16.8: Percent change in the number of grade 10 students performing at
or above goal from 2010 to 2011
1: The high school’s rank on ConnCAN’s Top 10 list for overall
improvement for high schools in 2011
CAPT scores, percent of grade 10 students performing at or above goal:
Math
2007: 32.2
2010: 34.4
2011: 51.4
Science
2007: 42.4
2010: 16.2
2011: 42.1
Reading:
2007: 36.7
2010: 35.3
2011: 42.9
Writing:
2007: 35
2010: 29.7
2011: 50
Statewide rates for grade 10 students performing at or above goal
2011
Math: 49.6
Science: 47.2
Reading: 44.8
Writing: 61.3
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