By Linda Conner Lambeck

WESTPORT — An 11-point drop in third-grade language arts scores on last spring’s state achievement test doesn’t have school officials sounding the alarm.

It has, however, prompted them to update intervention programs, focusing more on small group instruction, and modifying resources where necessary, the Board of Education was told last week.

On the 2023 Smarter Balance Assessment Test, 74 percent of district third graders met or exceeded the proficiency benchmark set by the state. That compares to 85 percent the year before.

“It might be the impact of the pandemic,” Assistant Supt. of Schools Anthony Buono said.

The COVID-19 pandemic hit when those students were in kindergarten and first grade, a time when foundation skills in literacy are taught, Buono noted.

The state’s Language Arts assessment gauges not only reading, but writing, speaking and listening.

The drop seen in the Westport scores was mirrored throughout the state. School districts similar to Westport, also used to seeing 80 percent or more of their students scoring at or above the proficiency level, saw sharp declines as well.

No districts reached 80 percent in language arts in 2023, Supt. Thomas Scarice noted. The highest was New Canaan at 78.8 percent. The year before, 86.6 percent of that town’s students reached or exceeded proficiency.

Robust fourth-grade results 

In contrast, fourth-grade scores in Westport in 2023, for both language arts and math, were deemed exceptional.

Language arts proficiency scores shot up to 86 percent or better. That compares to 79 percent in 2022 and 83 percent in 2021.

Fourth-grade math scores in 2023 were at 89 percent proficient, 11 points higher than the year before and eight points higher than a five-year average.

Overall district performance remains significantly higher than state and national averages.

Buono deemed Westport’s results on the state test, given in grades three to eight mixed, with an overall rebound in math proficiency from 2022 and a little lower in most grades in language arts.

In most cases, the district also saw growth as students moved from one grade to the other. For instance, while 84 percent of third graders reached proficiency in math in 2022, some 89 percent of roughly the same cohort were proficient as fourth graders.

Board Vice Chair Dorie Hordon asked if the third-grade reading score dip might have influenced the state’s recent decision to recently deny Westport a waiver of a “Right to Read” law requiring it to adopt a state-approved reading program.

Buono said based on feedback the district received, local reading scores did not factor into the denial.

“You would like to think, Dorie, that they would look at student performance and make that the primary indicator in making that decision,” Scarice said.

The district is researching ways to appeal the denial.

Stubborn fifth to sixth grade drop continues

A consistent exception to the SBAC growth over time measure is from grades five to six in language arts. It is an anomaly the precedes the pandemic with proficiency dropping about 10 points from fifth to sixth grades each year the test was administered since 2017.

Buono called it a pattern that district officials take seriously and are trying to address.

Students transition to the middle school in sixth grade, where much less time is devoted to literacy — 42 minutes a day versus 120 minutes daily at the elementary level.

“You can’t do the same thing in 42 minutes as 120,” Buono told the school board. “The volume of reading in middle school drops significantly.”

Some modifications have been made to the curriculum, but finding more time for reading remains a challenge, the board was told.

“The numbers show we still don’t have a handle on that drop,” said Jill Dillon, the board’s newest member. “I don’t know what the answer is other than whatever we have been looking at our trying hasn’t been working.”

Scarice an issue may be that the district’s middle school language arts program is focused more on classical literature while the state test’s focus is geared toward non-fiction.

He called it a value judgment on the part of the district.

“There are districts that would have to re-engineer their curriculum to map the state test. And that would definitely lead to increased performance,” Scarice said.

However, that would de-emphasize areas Scarice said better serve students at Staples and beyond.

“There are other standards we want to address that we think are important,” Buono added.

Buono said the school district does not use the state assessment in isolation, but to identify student strengths and weaknesses, inform classroom instruction, and provide targeted student support.

He said students in grades four through eight also get a district-administered assessment in the fall to help more quickly identify those with learning challenges and aid teachers in making instructional decisions.

Results suggest this year’s third-grade students may have the same challenges as last year’s third grade.

“Early intervention is what’s really going to serve us well,” Buono said.

Accountability ranking

The SBAC scores are one of a dozen measures that feed into the state’s accountability system.

This year, Westport scored a 80.7 on the annual accountability report, slightly lower than last year and 4.4 points less than pre-pandemic.

Buono called the report the state’s effort to move beyond test scores and take a holistic view of district and student performance.

“I think it is well intentioned. Some of it make sense to me,” Buono said.

But high-performing districts like Westport, Buono added, can’t get credit when students exceed state targets.

The state wants at least 75 percent of students to reach the target in language arts. In Westport, 79.7 do. The district would like even more to cross the benchmark. Even if it does, it would get no extra points from the state.

The school district lost points, meanwhile, when the percentage of high-needs students reaching targets in math (58.6 percent), science (56.9 percent) and language arts (60.5 percent) did not reach the state’s goal of 75 percent.

Freelance writer Linda Conner Lambeck, a reporter for more than four decades at the Connecticut Post and other Hearst publications, is a member of the Education Writers Association.