Use this search box to find articles that have run in our newspapers over the last several years.

SMART goals to focus on improving East Longmeadow math scores

Date: 11/13/2014

EAST LONGMEADOW – District principals and administration officials presented the 2014-2015 SMART goals to the School Committee at its Nov. 3 meeting, which included action steps for improving challenge areas such as math scores.

The district SMART goals are designed to state what needs to be accomplished in the district, measure objectively assessed student data, and improve student achievement under a set timeline, Superintendent of Schools Gordon Smith said.

The first SMART goal is to make sure that students will receive standards-based instruction aligned with the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks, which would lead to 100 percent of district students making positive gains in their learning to meet the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS).

One action step for this goal is to host monthly departmental collaboration meetings that would focus on curricular review and revisions, common assessment development, as well as reviews of the best practices for instruction, he said.

The second goal is to develop district common assessments by June 2015.

K-5 would be tested in English language arts (ELA) three times a year and grades 6 to 12 would be tested at set intervals throughout the year or in specific courses, Smith explained.

The assessment results would be used to guide instructional decisions and curricular revisions, said.

“So, ultimately goal one and two work really closely together to help us ensure that our students are not only learning and getting the opportunity to master standards, but should be in the best position to take any type of assessment built on the state standards,” Smith added.

Additional SMART goals include fostering a safe, nurturing, and respectful working environment, as well as meeting goals within the parameters of a fiscally responsible budget.

Action steps for these goals include providing K-12 educational workshops for parents, identifying grants and other funds for fiscal year 2016, and incorporating a set timeline for budget development meetings with the district Leadership Team and the School Committee.

“We look at math and we’re seeing that even though we so some nice jumps, we also have some concerns,” he added. “We have some concerns at the eighth grade level.”

MCAS test scores in math for students who are a proficient or above show an aggregate percentage of 55 in grade 3 compared to last year’s score of 73 percent.

Grade 4 MCAS math percentages for students proficient or above is also 55 and last year’s percentage was 56.

Forty-one percent of students in grade 8 scored proficient and above on the math MCAS during the 2013-2014 school year. The previous school year saw 43 percent of students ranked in the same category on the math MCAS.

Generally, there is a reduction in MCAS scores from grades 3 to 4 statewide due to long composition sections, which are implemented in grade 4, Smith explained.

“Not only did [district principals] start to look at the specific standards that may have been consistently challenging over the past few years for our students, but they also started to cross reference the MCAS math with our most recent STAR math results,” Smith added.

STAR assessments are a Renaissance learning product that have been used by the district during the last four years, he explained.

“We use math and ELA [STAR assessments] and what we do is we have our students take STAR three times a year,” Smith said. “It gives us a quicker look at where are students are right now.”

The STAR assessments are designed to take 20 minutes or less for students to complete, according to Renaissance’s website.

“One of the things that we’ve always been proud of is the fact that as our students go through the grades, they’re achieving their best work as they get to tenth grade,” he added.

In 2009, 57 percent of grade 3 students ranked as proficient and above in the math MCAS. By 2014, 83 percent of the same group of students scored proficient and above in the math MCAS. 

Gina Flanagan, principal of East Longmeadow High School (ELHS), said for the 2014-2015 school year ELHS is implementing a school wide rubric that would focus on 21st century learning skills.