Results released Tuesday showed little improvement in standardized test scores statewide.
The most notable improvement was an increase of a couple of points in fourth- and eighth-grade math scores.
Locally in the 11th-grade, Gorham High had 57 percent meeting standards in reading; 43 percent in writing; 38 percent in math and 9 percent in science – not including the 1 percent that exceeded standards in most categories. Those not meeting standards included 7 percent in reading; 8 percent in writing; 22 percent in math; and 21 percent in science.
Gorham School Superintendent Ted Sharp hadn’t seen the Maine Educational Assement scores Tuesday, but he said committees in the Gorham School Department would read and process the scores, and he expected the scores to be reviewed at a School Committee meeting in early October.
“They are an important measure of the work we do,” Sharp said. “We take them seriously. We’ll take our time to do the study well.”
In Westbrook, 40 percent of 11th graders met standards in reading; 26 percent in writing; 22 percent in math and 4 percent in science. There also were 2 percent of Westbrook 11th-graders who exceeded standards in writing and math. Those not meeting standards included 7 in reading; 9 percent in writing; 33 percent in math; and 35 percent in science.
Westbrook Assistant Superintendent Jan Breton said Westbrook’s scores remained pretty stable with last year’s scores. “They’re pretty much the same as last year in a lot of areas with some improvements in areas we have been working on,” she said.
Breton said, like Gorham, the Westbrook School Department is also still in the process of analyzing the scores.
At Bonny Eagle High School in Standish, 44 percent met standards in reading; 32 percent in writing; 13 percent in math; 5 percent in science; and 1 percent exceeded standards in writing. Those not meeting standards included 13 percent in reading; 14
percent in writing; 36 percent in math and 34 percent in science.
Statewide, 43 percent of 11th-graders met standards in reading; 34 percent in writing; 21 percent in math; and 9 percent in science. In the 11th grade statewide, 10 percent of students did not meet standards in reading; 10 percent failed to meet the writing standards; 33 percent did not meet the math standards; and 31 percent fell below the standard in science. The statewide numbers do not include the 1 percent, on average, who actually exceeded standards in most categories in all grades.
For eighth-graders statewide, 43 percent met standards in reading; 41 percent met standards in writing; 27 percent met standards in math; and 15 percent met standards in science.
Westbrook eighth-graders fared slightly higher than the state standards: 53 percent met the standards in reading, 43 percent met the writing standards, 32 percent met the math standards and 15 percent met the science standards.
Like Westbrook, Gorham’s eighth-graders also exceeded the state averages. In reading, 48 percent of students met the average, 55 percent met the average in writing, 29 percent met the math averages and 16 percent met the average in science.
At the fourth-grade level statewide, 52 percent met standards in reading; 10 percent in writing; 37 percent in math; and 4 percent in science.
Westbrook’s fourth-graders scored right around the state average. At the Congin School, 44 percent of the students met standards in reading, 13 percent met standards in writing, 32 percent met standards in math and 3 percent met standards in science. At Canal School, 46 percent met the standards in reading, 16 percent met the standards in writing, 41 percent met the standards in math and 3 percent met the standards in science.
In Gorham, 59 percent of fourth-graders met the standards in reading, 11 percent met the standards in writing, 45 percent met the standards in math and 9 percent met the reading standards.
The percentage of students falling in the category of not meeting the standards was relatively stable except for improvement in math scores for fourth- and eighth-graders and science scores in eighth-grade.
In the 11th grade statewide, 10 percent did not meet standards in reading; 10 percent in writing; 33 percent in math and 31 percent in science. In eighth-grade, 12 percent did not meet standards in reading; 5 percent in writing; 27 percent in math and 25 percent in science. In fourth-grade, 7 percent did not meet standards in reading; 16 percent in writing; 14 percent in math; and, 25 percent in science.
All scores for all grade levels area available at
www.state.me.us/education/mea/edmea.htm
Additional reporting by staff writers Mike Higgins and Robert Lowell
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