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Norwalk's 2013 Test Scores Show Mixed Results

NORWALK, Conn. – Norwalk Public Schools’ test scores improved in many areas, but some grade levels followed the statewide trend and declined in 2013.

The state Department of Education released the 2013 standardized test scores Tuesday, which showed improvements for Norwalk students in fourth and eighth grade.

The state Department of Education released the 2013 standardized test scores Tuesday, which showed improvements for Norwalk students in fourth and eighth grade.

Photo Credit: Daily Voice File

The state released scores for the 2013 Connecticut Mastery Tests and Connecticut Academic Performance Tests Tuesday. Norwalk’s results were mixed, with improvements in some grades but declines in others.

In Norwalk, students in fourth- and eighth-grade had  improved scores in all subjects compared to those at the same grade level last year. Seventh-graders also improved in reading and writing, and came within a percentage point of their peers from last year in math.

The largest improvement came in fourth-grade writing, where 7.2 percent more Norwalk students reached goal in 2013 than in 2012. Eighth-grade reading and writing and fourth-grade writing also saw increases of more than 4 percent.

Some grade levels did see declines, however. A smaller percentage of third-graders reached the goal level in all three subjects compared to 2012. The drop was biggest in math, where the town saw 61.7 percent of third-graders reach goal, an 8.4 percent drop from last year.

Third-grade goal scores also dropped more than 5 percent in writing and more than 6 percent in reading. Other noticeable drops include fifth-grade science and mathematics and sixth-grade reading. At least 5 percent fewer students reached goal in 2013 than did in 2012 in those categories.

CMT scores by students statewide dipped in 2013, according to data released Tuesday by the state Department of Education.

“Student performance data on the CMT show decreases in all grades and content areas as compared to last year,” a release said. The CMTs were taken in March by all public school students in grades 3 to 8.

Statewide, 2013 CMT results declined in the percentage of students scoring at goal in all areas tested -- reading, writing, math and science.

The state Department of Education blamed the transition to Common Core standards in many districts is a reason for the drop.

On the Connecticut Academic Performance Test, taken by 10th-graders, scores statewide showed increases at the goal level in each area tested except writing.

Norwalk’s 10th-graders did as well or better than their peers from the year before in every subject. The only subject Norwalk saw a decline in CAPT scores was  reading. The 2013 percentage of students at goal was just one tenth of a percent lower than 2012.

In mathematics, nearly 10 percent more Norwalk sophomores reached the goal level than did last year. But Norwalk’s high school scores were still lower than the state average in all four subjects covered by the CAPT on average.

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