After an initial review of the recently released Maine Educational Assessment scores, school officials said they felt that Gorham students fared well.
“At a quick scan, we did pretty well,” said Karen P. Rumery, Gorham’s director of assessment and curriculum. “Overall, our initial review of the MEAs is that scores are pretty good.”
The testing marked the first time that grades 3 through 8 were tested. In the past, only grades 4, 8 and 11 participated.
In Gorham, grade 6 scored the highest in reading of the six grades tested with 71 percent meeting or exceeding standards. Grade 8 scored the lowest in reading with 59 percent.
Grade 5 was tops in math of the grades tested, recording 66 percent. Eighth graders scored lowest in math with 44 percent but still fared higher that the state average, Rumery said.
In science, only two grades were tested. Grade 4 led the way with 66 percent followed by grade 8 with 61 percent. Rumery said she was happy with those results. “Science scores at grades 4 and 8 were pretty good,” she said.
Sixty-eight percent of third grade students met or exceeded standards in reading, the same total as Gorham’s seventh grade students. Grade 3 scored 64 percent in math, equaling the scores of Gorham’s fourth graders.
Rumery said results had no comparison because it represented a new “baseline” for the state assessment. “We can not compare the scores to last year – it’s all new,” she said.
“We will be looking closely at the data in the Village School, Gorham Middle School and Gorham High School. Teachers will be reviewing the data together in grade level teams and as a school to determine what they are learning about their students and what the focus for teaching and learning should be as we enter this new academic year,” Rumery said.
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