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Schools

Ledyard CAPT and CMT Scores On Track

School Board Reviews Progress, Hears Update on Asbestos Abatement, New Bleachers

The results are in from the Connecticut Academic Performance Tests and the Connecticut Mastery Tests, and they generally show Ledyard students are continuing to make good progress.

The annual tests, which students took this spring, measure proficiency in reading, writing, and mathematics. There is also a science test for fifth-, eighth- and 10th-graders.

The percentage of students who achieved proficiency in each area varied by grade. In third grade, 81.5 percent were proficient in reading, a number that climbed to 96 percent in sixth grade.

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In math, the sixth-graders scored highest again at 98 percent, while eighth graders  dipped slightly to 93 percent.

Overall, students showed similar results in writing and science proficiency. 

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Scores also showed improvements for groups of students over the years. A comparison of current sixth-graders at Juliet W. Long School showed that the same group improved from 84 percent reading proficiency in fourth grade to 98 percent proficiency in the sixth grade.

The CAPT scores showed an improvement in the number of students that met a state goal at Ledyard High. While only 36 percent of the students met goal results in 2007, by 2011 that number was up to 54 percent.

In that period, writers meeting the goal standards climbed from 49 percent to over 70 percent. Math also climbed, with 60 percent of students meeting goal this year.

Another statistic of interest to the group was a 9 percent dropout rate that the state had listed for Ledyard. “It’s not the case that one out of 11 students drops out,” said Ledyard High School Principal Lou Gabordi clarified.

Of the 29 students that went to Ledyard High and did not graduate, only three had discontinued their education, or "dropped out," he said. The others had transferred to other schools, joined Adult Education Programs or were continuing their education in some capacity elsewhere.

Happy to be back

Superintendent Michael Graner told the board that he was glad that schools were open, despite the “information nightmare” that the power outage presented. “I have to acknowledge some really great work by our secretaries,” he said.

Gabordi reported on projects at Ledyard High, including a retrofitted chemistry lab, and the teardown of the old bleachers at the football field. Graner expected new bleachers to go up by the end of October, which would mean there would be two home games without the seats.

The major project at Gallup Hill School was asbestos removal, which required that protective plastic go up over walls and classroom smart boards. New floor tiles went in and the walls were scrubbed and painted.

“It was a very productive summer,” Graner said.

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