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Chicopee students show improvement in test scores

Date: 10/26/2011

Oct. 26, 201

By G. Michael Dobbs

Managing Editor

CHICOPEE — With the revelation of a study by the Massachusetts School Nurses Organization, several School Committee members questioned the responsibility of parents at the meeting on Oct. 19.

School Committee member John Mruk cited a report that showed out of 4,046 Chicopee public school students who underwent vision screening, 18 percent of them — 725 students — failed the test.

Of that group only 332 went on to correct their vision problem.

Mruk expressed concern about what the schools can do to try to make sure a greater number of students get the help they need.

Superintendent of Schools Richard Rege replied the district does take steps to encourage parents to seek help for their children. He noted the schools are asked to “do more and more” and cited hearing screenings and free meal programs, among other non-classroom activities.

“We don’t have the power or the authority to force a parent to do so [get their child glasses],” Rege said.

In a severe case, the schools can — and have — file the necessary paperwork to involve the courts in a case of possible abuse or neglect, he added.

Rege said that teachers try to make accommodations for students with vision concerns.

School Committee member Mary Elizabeth Pniak-Costello noted there had been discussion in the past of developing a contract for parents and this discussion may need to be revisited.

Mruk also shared with the committee his analysis of Chicopee’s results in the Composite Performance Index (CPI). According to the Massachusetts Department of Education, the CPI is “a 100-point index that assigns 100, 75, 50, 25, or 0 points to each student participating in MCAS [Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System] and MCAS-Alternate Assessment tests based on their performance. The total points assigned to each student are added together and the sum is divided by the total number of students assessed. The result is a number between 0 and 100, which constitutes a district, school or group’s CPI for that subject and student group. The CPI is a measure of the extent to which students are progressing toward proficiency (a CPI of 100) in ELA [English Language Arts] and mathematics. CPIs are generated separately for ELA and mathematics, and at all levels — state, district, school, and student group.”

In 2008, the CPI score for Chicopee math was 65.9 and in 2011 the score was 70.7. The state average was 79.9, Mruk reported.

With the English assessment, in 2008 Chicopee’s score was 79.7. It rose in 2011 to 82.1. The state average is 87.2.

Mruk said the scores indicate the progress the district is making.

Students from the Anne E. Barry School spoke at the meeting about the change at the Edward Bellamy Middle School’s REACH program. The students are presently in their school’s REACH program and expressed their displeasure that at the middle school the program is now offered after school instead of a class during the school day.

School Committee member Susan Szetela-Lopes later asked what the committee should do in light of the concerns expressed about the program. The fifth-graders who spoke all said they might discontinue participating in the program if it was offered after-school, as it would conflict with other activities.

Mayor Michael Bissonnette said the committee could make recommendations to Bellamy Principal Matthew Francis who made the decision to move the time of the program. The School Committee cannot reverse his decision.

Although Szetela-Lopes believed the committee should address the situation now, Rege asked for them to wait until the results from a study about the change in the scheduling of the program could be completed.



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