VERNON, CT —Students in the Vernon Public School system, for the third straight year, have outperformed the state average in the latest Connecticut Smarter Balanced Assessments.
The number of Vernon students attaining grade level expectations in English language arts and math continues to improve and exceeds the statewide average, according to the results released for the start of the school year.
The program involves testing for grades 3 through 8 in English language arts/literacy and mathematics that gauge student achievement and growth in what state officials call “the Connecticut Core Standards.”
Find out what's happening in Vernonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Vernon Superintendent of Schools Joseph Macary told Patch Thursday that Vernon students have not only recovered from “learning disruptions” related to the coronavirus pandemic, but have “rocketed” ahead of the statewide average.
“Our student achievement is all about growth and our students continue to show growth in English language arts, mathematics and science,” Macary said. “We are preparing our students for success in their lives beyond school, whether it be the workforce, the armed forces,
vocational training or college. These scores demonstrate we are giving our students a strong foundation to help prepare them for the global economy.”
Find out what's happening in Vernonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
While test scores are an important measure of how students are doing, they tell only part of a school or district’s story, administrators said. Student growth provides a more accurate measure of how schools contribute to student learning by demonstrating achievement over time. Students start each year with different levels of knowledge, they added.
“Measuring growth in that knowledge shows how well a school is helping students learn,” administrators said.
“This is one piece of a larger picture, but it tells us that we are on the right track,” Assistant Superintendent of Schools Robert Testa said.
More detailed statistics about student performance are expected to be released in October, Macary said.
Over the past decade, Vernon students have demonstrated a steady increase in their mastery of English language arts, math and science.
“Since the 2018-2019 school year, the statewide average of students reaching grade level expectations has declined, while in Vernon the number of students who have reached or exceeded the standards has steadily increased and is well ahead of that state average,” Testa said.
Statewide, the number of students achieving grade level mastery declined from the 2017-2018 to the 2023-2024 school year, Testa said.
“When you look at Vernon you see a different picture,” Testa said. “You see an increase of over 8 percent in the number of students who are reaching grade level expectations in English language arts and nearly 16 percent in math.”
Vernon is No. 1 among the 33 Alliance Districts in English language arts and math and third in science, the statistics show.
A key to Vernon’s continued progress is a “quality classroom curriculum that is aligned to standards and quality instruction by Vernon’s teachers, Macary said. The third essential element is intervention and support for students who are not reaching grade level, he added.
Click Here: Highlanders Jersey
“When you put those three ingredients together, you’ve got the secret sauce,” Macary said.
A decade ago, Vernon was identified as one of the 30 lowest performing school districts in the state.
“Today, that’s not the case,” Macary said. “Every child is growing academically, socially and emotionally and the scores show that.”
And why is that so important?
“The more student we have performing at grade level means we have more students ready to advance to the next level,” Macary said.
One example is the celebrated creative writing program at Rockville High School, which annually wins more awards that any other program in the state by a wide margin.
“The more kids who can effectively read and write before high school means we have more kids ready to excel in high school — and after,” he said. “It you don’t have basic sentence structure, you can’t advance as a writer.”
Macary said the same goes for basic math, which can pave the way to another top program at RHS — agricultural science and technology, as well as toward advanced math courses.
“If students don’t know the basics, they can’t go on,” he said. “I think we should all be proud of the teachers, staff and administrators who have contributed to so many improvements and gains.
“We’re moving the needle to make sure more students have opportunities for success.”
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.