State gives OK to Jackson's explanation of test scores
BY DAVE BENJAMIN
Staff Writer

JACKSON - When Grade Eight Pro-ficiency Assessment (GEPA) scores go up or down by a significant margin from one year to the next, signals go off at the state Department of Education.

Such was the case at the McAuliffe Middle School when it was reported that eighth-graders who took the test during the 2005-06 school year showed an 18-point gain in math scores over what had been achieved by eighth-graders who took the test in 2004-05.

The increase in scores caught the attention of state education officials who in January sought an explanation from Jackson school administrators.

Superintendent of Schools Thomas Gialanella said at the time the question was raised that he believed district-wide initiatives and strategies had helped to increase student comprehension of the curriculum. He noted there had been changes to math instruction and curriculum, as well as new textbooks.

Last week the Department of Educa-tion informed district administrators that their explanation regarding the test scores satisfied the inquiry.

Acting Assistant Commissioner Jay Doolan, Division of Educational Pro-grams and Assessment, said in a letter to the school district, "In our judgment you have satisfactorily accounted for the unusual changes, which drew our attention."

Those changes included math instruction time increased to 66-minute blocks; identification of at-risk students; proactive parent involvement; a new math text; and improvement in test scores in language arts and science as well.

"We are pleased at this opportunity to recognize this achievement in grade eight mathematics by students and staff at the Christa McAuliffe Middle School and we shall look forward to seeing you sustain and build upon that achievement in 2007," Doolan wrote.

In a March 8 press release, Commis-sioner of Education Lucille E. Davy said, "After conducting the review, it is clear that the majority of these impressive gains are the result of careful planning and hard work by the schools, teachers and administrators. We want to recognize them and share information about their success with other districts."

Davy said the data was not designed to embarrass a school district or to imply anything untoward was going on, but rather to establish a process by which the department can exercise a reasonable oversight process to ensure the validity of the data, recognize achievement by schools, motivate other districts to take seriously their own obligations to analyze test data regularly and communicate this information to the public.

The commissioner said the review will be held annually and the review process may be expanded.