SPRING 2009 CTBS RESULTS FOR St. WENCESLAUS SCHOOL

Every spring our students in third through ninth grades take a national standardized test called California Test of Basic Skills (CTBS) or Terra Nova.  The results of this test shows us how our students perform compared to other students across the nation who take the same test at the same time. Other schools in our nation take the Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS) and some take their tests in the fall rather than the spring.  When interpreting the results of this test, a number score of 51 indicates that our students score better than 51% of the students who took the same test.

Parents received a Home Report at the end of the school year that told you how your student(s) performed on the test.  The printout you received included a narrative that highlighted your student’s strengths and weaknesses.  When you looked over that information, I hope you kept in mind that these tests are a “snap shot” of how your student did on that test, on that particular day.  If they were up late the night before, or just came in from an emotional recess period or was not feeling well, any number of things could have effected how well the students performed on these tests.  You and your student’s teacher should consider daily work, quizzes and end of the unit tests when determining the progress each student is making or capable of making.

The information that the school receives includes information about individual students as well as a large amount of information that we study. These tests are standardized which mean they are the same year after year which does allow us to compare ourselves to these other schools.  All students will have their good days and bad days when taking these tests, so the comparison is a fair one.  Standardized tests also allow us to see academic trends that help us determine what content areas need a closer study. 

A study of the 2007 Terra Nova indicated that we needed more work on word problems in math.  For the 2008-2009 school year, we put in place some strategies that addressed that particular issue.  The result of the implementation was a slight increase in our math scores.  We will continue to implement the word problem strategies that we started last school year and continue watching that area.

An area that is noticeable across the board is the increase in our science scores.  That can be directly attributed to the new Science Series adopted this past year.  Our teachers are very good at what they do, but can be limited by the resources available to them.  The resources available to them in the new Science Series gave them material and ideas that were not available to them before.  In my classroom visits, the science lessons were full of inquiry and had some interesting lab experiments for the students to participate in.  The teachers enjoyed teaching the lessons as much as the students enjoyed learning the material. 

Our areas of focus for the 2009-2010 school year will be Reading Comprehension and a continued focus on Math Computation.  At home you can help us with that by encouraging your child to read in their free time.  Too often the computer or the television becomes an easy source of entertainment.  With Math Computation, you can help us by quizzing the students on simple math facts that arise during the day by using such topics as the scores of athletic events or prices of items at the grocery store.