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Scroll to the bottom of this article to sort through test scores from Upper Valley schools.
New Hampshire’s statewide score show the persistence of the achievement gap: 60 percent of students in grades 3 to 8 showed proficiency on the Smarter Balanced reading test and 50 percent showed proficiency on the math test. But, just 39 percent of students living in poverty — defined as those who qualify for free and reduced lunch — showed proficiency on the reading test and 29 percent scored proficient or higher on the math test.
Annual statewide proficiency tests are required by the No Child Left Behind Act, which was signed into law by President George W. Bush in 2002. The law intends to ensure all students — including those in poverty, those on Individualized Education Programs and non-native English speakers — gain proficiency in math and language arts.
In Upper Valley schools, there are some examples of disadvantaged students pulling even with or surpassing their more affluent peers in achievement levels on the computerized Smarter Balanced tests given in the spring.
For example, 62 percent of Canaan Elementary School’s third-graders, both those who live in poverty and those who do not, demonstrated proficiency on the math test.
Mascoma Valley Regional School District Superintendent Patrick Andrew credits the narrowing of the achievement gap between rich and poor students in his district to a culture shift. Educators have made it their goal to, through their actions, convey to parents and students that “this school is for every kid who lives here,” Andrew said in a phone interview.
Mascoma Valley administrators plan budgets with an eye to ensuring that there are no required supplies that students in the elementary and middle schools have to bring from home, Andrew said. Schools provide items such as binders and paper to students, for example.
Mascoma’s culture shift was driven, at least in part, by former School Board member Dave Barney, who died in 2014, Andrew said. Barney, who grew up without a lot of money, “really championed this cause.”
Despite their efforts, the struggle to even the playing field is not over. Canaan Elementary School’s reading scores show more affluent third- and fourth-graders outpaced their peers on the Smarter Balanced reading test with 57 percent scoring proficient, compared to 34 percent of students living in poverty.
The Mascoma Valley isn’t the only district in which some students living in poverty are achieving at levels similar to those of their more affluent peers.
Administrators at other Upper Valley districts credit progress in shrinking the achievement gap to efforts to rapidly detect when students fall behind and to act quickly to address their needs. School officials in districts with significant achievement gaps cautioned that the statewide Smarter Balanced Assessments — which replaced the pen and paper NECAP tests in 2014-15 — are just one indicator of student achievement and should be seen together with other tests, graduation rates and college admittances.
Third-graders in the Kearsarge Regional School District living in poverty actually outpaced their peers on the Smarter Balanced math test, with 88 percent of lower income students scoring in the proficient range and 78 percent of more affluent students achieving proficiency.
Kearsarge’s fourth-graders also appeared to bridge the gap in both math and reading. Eighty-two percent of economically disadvantaged students scored in the proficient range, slightly outpacing their more advantaged peers, 80 percent of whom showed proficiency.
Scores were also relatively equal in math with 73 percent of economically disadvantaged fourth-graders scoring proficient on the math test, compared with 74 percent of their more affluent classmates.
“We are getting much better over the years with quicker interventions and better assessments throughout the year,” Kearsarge Superintendent Winfried Feneberg said in a phone interview. “While statewide testing has in past years preoccupied the minds of the educators, it’s really just one of many measures we take to guide kids to where they need to go.”
In addition to the annual statewide tests, Kearsarge uses the Star tests to monitor students’ progress three times per year. Renaissance Learning’s Star tests were originally named STAR, Standardized Test for the Assessment of Reading, but now cover several subject areas, including reading and mathematics.
Feneberg described these tests as “short dipsticks” for monitoring progress. When students fall below benchmarks in any area, teachers can step in to provide extra support, he said.
Despite progress in some grades, the picture was stark in seventh grade where 60 percent of advantaged Kearsarge students showed proficiency in math and just 16 percent of disadvantaged students did. And 74 percent of Kearsarge’s more affluent seventh-graders showed proficiency in reading, while just 24 percent of students in poverty did.
While the district’s approach to progress monitoring seems to be working in some cases, Feneberg said Kearsarge is still working to improve its approach for older students.
The high school recently adjusted its schedule to create a remediation/enrichment block at the end of each day. Students who need extra help can take the time to meet with teachers, while those who do not can focus on their senior projects or a wellness or community service activity, Feneberg said.
“I think we’re focused on what we need to do in Kearsarge,” he said. “We know what our assets are. We are responsible to our kids and our families and that’s what we take seriously.”
Haverhill’s results indicate a need for more emphasis on technology in younger grades, Superintendent Laurie Melanson said in a phone interview.
“What I’m seeing in terms of scores in third grade reflect lack of access to technology,” said Melanson, who joined the district in July.
Overall, Woodsville Elementary School’s third-graders were 39 percent proficient in reading and 36 percent proficient in math. That’s substantially below the state averages for third-graders of 56 percent proficient in reading and 57 percent in math.
But, in some grades, Haverhill students performed above the state average. For example, 61 percent of Woodsville fourth-graders demonstrated proficiency in reading and 59 percent in math, above the state average of 57 percent in reading and 51 percent in math.
Melanson attributed the better scores in upper grades to greater comfort with computers, necessary for the computer-based test. She said the district has applied for grants that would enable it to purchase more computers for students. She also said the scores reflect the district’s recent emphasis on math.
While there are examples of some lower-income students outperforming their peers in Haverhill, more often more affluent students did better. Lower-income fourth-graders outperformed their more affluent peers on the reading test with 70 percent of low-income students showing proficiency compared with 54 percent of their more affluent peers.
In contrast, in fifth-grade math there was a difference of 30 percentage points between higher and lower-income students with 48 percent of affluent students achieving proficiency and just 18 percent of disadvantaged students doing so.
Melanson said she has not yet looked into data comparing the achievement of students of different economic groups. But the overall goal is to determine where individual students are and where the district wants them to be. Regular assessments combined with professional development and technology can help to boost test scores and achievement levels, Melanson said.
“It is possible to improve,” she said.
There were many examples of the continuing gap between higher and lower-income students across the region. For example, at Mount Lebanon Elementary School in West Lebanon, 78 percent of better off third-graders demonstrated proficiency on the Smarter Balanced math test, while just 18 percent of students in poverty scored in the proficient range.
Tracy Bricchi, the new director of curriculum, instruction and assessment for the Lebanon School District, said the district is putting together data teams as part of its strategic plan. The teams will review all of the information it gathers, including that from the Smarter Balanced Assessments.
“That’s what we’re doing to address all the data that we have,” she said. “(We) haven’t focused on any of the data.”
She cautioned against reading too much into the Smarter Balanced results because 2015-16 was only the second year of the test in New Hampshire.
In 2014-15, 65 percent of Mount Lebanon’s more affluent third-graders scored in the proficient range on the math test and 44 percent of those in poverty demonstrated proficiency.
“Two points make a straight line,” Bricchi said. But, “(we) can’t talk about a trend.”
The way administrators interpret the Smarter Balanced results differs between communities.
In Claremont, Assistant Superintendent Cory LeClair said one of the first things she noticed in her district’s results was the growth from the prior year. From 2014-2015 to 2015-2016, Claremont students gained an average of 6 percentage points in language arts and 1.5 percent in math, she said.
“Most of our students performed better this year,” LeClair said. “I think that has to do with some degree of comfort with the testing platform.”
She also attributed growth to curricular changes and noted that growth students gain without achieving proficiency does not stand out in Smarter Balanced results, but is important to measure. Some students may begin and end the school year proficient without learning anything, while other students may learn a lot, but still fail to achieve proficiency, she said.
“I would love for these types of assessments to look at both growth and proficiency,” she said.
There were examples of impoverished students in Claremont performing as well as their higher income peers. At Bluff Elementary School, 57 percent of third-graders in poverty scored proficient on the math test, while 54 percent of their more affluent peers scored in the proficient range.
More often though, higher income Claremont students scored better, on average, than their lower income peers. At Maple Avenue Elementary School, for example, 73 percent of more affluent third-graders showed proficiency in math, while just 30 percent of low income third-graders did.
LeClair said she hadn’t yet had the opportunity to look at specific subgroups such as income groups in the Smarter Balanced results.
She said the lag between when students take the Smarter Balanced tests in the spring and when results are available in the fall makes the information less useful for teachers. Claremont uses a more frequent assessment called iReady, which, like Star, gives teachers a regular glimpse into whether students grasp the material.
Overall, LeClair said Claremont is focused on increasing consistency in its curriculum across schools. The district has recently added three curriculum coordinators: one to focus on curriculum for preschool to 5th grade, another for middle school and a third for high school.
She hopes that establishing clear expectations for students at each grade level across the district will lead to improvements in student performance on tests such as Smarter Balanced, she said.
One challenge Claremont faces is high turnover in faculty each year, LeClair said. This is partly due to Claremont teachers’ low earnings relative to their counterparts at some other area schools. For example, Claremont’s teachers, on average, earned $44,217 last school year, while teachers in Lebanon earned $62,561. (A full comparison of teacher salaries across the state can be found online at education.nh.gov/data/documents/teach_sal15_16.pdf.)
LeClair said she can’t do much to change the compensation of Claremont’s teachers, but she can work to better define what they are expected to do. Because of the high turnover, the district has some veteran, skilled teachers as well as others who are new to the profession. More clearly outlining expectations will help them all to create better lesson plans, she said.
“Better understanding what our curriculum is … allows us to build more integrated and creative units,” she said.
In Dresden and Sunapee there are too few low-income students to compare achievement between income groups by grade, but comparisons can be made across the district. In Piermont and Unity there are too few students to make such comparisons.
The Dresden School District, which includes secondary students from Hanover and Norwich, showed a significant disparity between economically advantaged and disadvantaged students. In math, 80 percent of advantaged students in Dresden in grades 6 to 8 and 11th grade, showed proficiency, while just 32 percent of their less affluent peers did so.
In reading, scores were higher overall with 90 percent of affluent students showing proficiency and 54 percent of lower-income students doing so.
From the scores available, Sunapee appears to be a bright spot with 80 percent of affluent students in grades 3 to 5 scoring proficient in math and 76 percent of lower-income students showing proficiency. Of the same students, 86 percent of better off students showed proficiency in reading and 74 percent of lower income students did.
In grades 6 to 8 at the middle school, 83 percent of more affluent students showed proficiency in math and 70 percent of lower-income students did. In reading, 84 percent of higher-income students showed proficiency and 60 percent of lower-income students did.
At Hanover’s Ray School and at elementary schools in Plainfield, Grantham and Lyme, no comparison between achievement of students in different income groups can be made. Fewer than 11 students in these districts qualify for free or reduced lunch, so their scores are not statistically significant and cannot be separated from the rest because of privacy concerns.
While there is evidence, in some cases, that schools are beginning to bridge the socio-economic achievement gap, there remains a substantial gap between students with disabilities and those without. It’s a discrepancy that Patrick Andrew, Mascoma Valley’s superintendent, hopes to target.
“Students on IEPs (Individualized Education Programs), that data’s not so great,” he said.
For example, just 8 percent of Indian River School students on IEPs demonstrated proficiency on the math test, while 43 percent of fifth-graders not on IEPs did so. Similarly, just 16 percent of Indian River fifth-graders on IEPs demonstrated proficiency on the reading test, compared with 68 percent of students not on IEPs.
“I don’t think we’ve found the best way to support that,” Andrew said of improving achievement for students with disabilities.
To do so, Andrew said he plans to look to recent research on the brain and learning to see how people with different learning styles are likely to be able to absorb information. Different types of learners may gain knowledge at different speeds, he said, but that doesn’t mean they all can’t eventually gain proficiency.
Nora Doyle-Burr can be reached at ndoyleburr@vnews.com or 603-727-3213.
