WESTBROOK — Westbrook schools scored lower than the state average on the 2016-17 Maine Education Assessment and as a district scored slightly lower than it did the prior year.
Despite the scores, which were released Monday by the Maine Department of Education, Superintendent Peter Lancia remained optimistic about the state of the schools and the quality of the education. He also said students are worth more than the scores they receive.
“It’s one piece,” Lancia said. “It’s one snapshot, but there’s so much more happening within the schools. We don’t want the kids to just become a number.”
For English, 42.16 percent of Westbrook students scored at or above state expectations compared to an average of 52.58 percent of students statewide. For math, 29.96 percent of Westbrook students scored at or above state average where 38.34 percent did statewide. For science, 46.31 percent of Westbrook students scored at or above state average compared to 61.07 percent statewide.
The results from 2015-16 had Westbrook students scoring at 41.24 percent for English, 30.62 percent for math, and 49.61 percent for science.
Lancia said he considers this year’s scores to be “pretty stable and pretty consistent with last year.”
For individual schools, Congin School saw the most improvement this year. For English, 57.36 percent of students scored at or above state expectations compared to 45 percent last year. For math, 55.64 percent scored at or above state expectations where 47.14 percent did last year. Science exams are not taken at the elementary level.
Westbrook Middle School saw the biggest decrease in scores among the district’s schools. English was the only subject that saw an increase, with 42.05 percent of students scoring at or above state average compared to 41.12 percent the previous year. For math, the scores went from 29.20 percent in 2015-16 to 25.40 percent this year. For science, the scores went from 55.62 percent to 51.60 percent.
Lancia attributed this decrease to the ever-changing population of the middle school and the fact that students enter the school from three different elementary schools. Additionally, he said the increase in scores at Congin is related to the stability and consistency of its student population.
“When I look at any kind of state data, I try not to look at it in isolation,” Lancia said. “I look at it as one piece of the story.”
At the Canal School, 33.58 percent of students scored at above state expectations for English compared to 40 percent the year before. Math scores improved, though, with a score of 30.34 percent this year compared to 29.50 percent the prior year.
At Saccarappa School, English scores decreased slightly from 34.75 percent in 2015-2016 to 34.59 percent this year. Math scores improved from 31.94 percent to 34.07 percent.
At Westbrook High School, English scores decreased from 45.51 percent to 44.02 percent. Math scores improved, going from 23.21 percent in 2015-2016 to 26.74 percent in 2016-2017. Science scores decreased slightly from 34.75 percent to 34.73 percent.
Lancia said the scores show where the schools and students need to grow, but that they also reflect the diverse learning styles of students.
“If we see growth individually we like that, even if it’s not shown from one year to the next in a summary score,” he said. “I can’t just look at test scores to judge the quality of learning going on.”
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