NCHS students Top Charts in National, State Exams

Dispelling gender myths and demonstrating overall improvement on standardized tests, New Canaan High School students came out on top within the demographic reference group (DRG), which includes Darien, Region 9 (Ridgefield and Weston), Westport and Wilton.

Girls and boys showed improvement in all areas of the Connecticut Academic Performance Tests (CAPT). The number of girls, who traditionally score lower in math and science, at or above goal in math improved by 2.7 percent and in science by 4.6 percent.

The CAPT measures Connecticut 10th graders in math, science, reading and writing. The scores range from students at a "basic" level (1) to those in an "advanced" level (5).

While the overall results were released this summer, the implications of those scores were recently analyzed by the Board of Education and administration.

NCHS Principal Tony Pavia said he would like to believe that the girls' large improvement in science can be attributed to the new science program that is geared toward more hands-on learning and critical thinking.

"What it shows also is that there is this myth that boys do better in math and science than girls," Pavia said. "It's the same type of myth that was accepted 50 years ago. I think that the more young ladies have taken advantage of the opportunities in math and science, the more they're showing there's no disparity."

NCHS students ranked first within the DRG in the CAPT math and science tests, and improved from sixth to fourth in reading and third place to second in writing. Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) scores, which are often used by colleges to measure a student's potential, the same success as NCHS took first overall.

"This year's scores in particular are validation that we have an extraordinary teaching staff," Pavia told the Advertiser. "We have an extraordinary teaching staff even if we didn't have the highest scores."

Aside from ranking at the top within the DRG, more importantly, students showed improvement overall year after year. Critical reading scores on the SAT improved 11 points, seven points in writing and 15 in Math.

High test scores are not a reflection of a curriculum of teaching to the test, however.

"We really believe that there are many ways to evaluate a young person that don't show on the report card," Pavia said.

Curricula across the board works toward embedding ideas that are applicable to the tests within the classroom.

While the tests are important to measure progress, they are not the only method used, he added. "We will hopefully never, in my educational lifetime, feel the need to teach to a test."

Results for Advanced Placement exams, which are more directly linked to the classroom that the CAPT and the SAT, show what the students and teachers are accomplishing within the classroom, said Pavia.

Thirty-one NCHS students were named AP Scholars, students scoring 3 (the highest possible being 5) or better on three exams. Twenty-one were named Scholars with Honors, students receiving an average grade of at least 3.25 on all AP exams and scoring three or better on four or more of these exams, and 29 were named Scholars with Distinction, students who received an average grade of at least 3.5 on all AP exams and scored 3 or better on five or more exams.

New this year, added by the College Board, were students named National Scholars who received an average grade of at least 4 on all AP exams and scored a 4 or better on eight or more on the exams, of which NCHS had five.

This article appeared in the December 4, 2008 New Canaan Advertiser.  The advertiser's website is:  New CanaanAdvertiser.com