Thursday, May 9, 2013

Three new assessments leave school districts pleased but taking a broader view

Area school districts are moving forward from a newly released batch of assessments, looking at how to best examine those results and use them to meet student needs and grow their achievement.
"It's almost like a mosaic," said Bill Richards, superintendent of the Wells-Ogunquit Community School District. "You've got to look at data in a much broader view than just one particular source."
Earlier this week, Newsweek released a list of the top 2,000 high schools in the nation. Included on that list are Kennebunk High School, which ranked number 1,163, and Wells High School, ranking at number 1,654. Nine high schools from Maine made the list, which focused on the schools' most effective in turning out college-ready graduates.

Last week a new ranking system was also unveiled by the Maine Department of Education, under which three-quarters of the state's schools received a grade of C or lower. Only 10 high schools in the state, including Kennebunk High School, received an A grade.

The Middle School of the Kennebunks and Mildred L. Day School also received A grades, while Sea Road School and Kennebunkport Consolidated School received Bs. Kennebunk Elementary School was not graded because the statewide testing begins in third grade and the school houses only one tested grade.

In the WOCSD, Wells High School and Wells Junior High School received B grades, while the Wells Elementary School received a C grade. And nearby, Thornton Academy received a C grade while Thornton Academy Middle School received a B.

Educators criticized the plan, which was graded on a bell curve, meaning the majority of elementary and high schools received Cs.

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