Cheshire Board reviews state testing data, cites steady growth and math gains

The Cheshire Board of Education reviewed five years of state assessment data on Wednesday, hearing that districtwide growth indicators improved compared with the prior year and that math scores for grades 3–8 reached their highest level in the five‑year window. Assistant Superintendent (name not specified) told the board the district recorded a 77.2% rate at level 3 or 4 in English language arts and 76.5% in math for the tested grades.

The presentation said the Smarter Balanced assessment reports both achievement (standards met at a grade level) and growth (individual students’ progress toward a personalized growth target). “So this is a way that we look at individual students, at classrooms of students, at grade levels, etcetera to see where we might need to deploy resources if students are not making growth,” the assistant superintendent said.

Why it matters: growth measures can show students are making progress even when they are not yet fully meeting grade‑level standards; the board flagged growth as a policy priority. The assistant superintendent and board members said Cheshire ranks competitively in Connecticut on growth measures for grades 3–8, and cited the district among larger districts performing near the top in statewide comparisons.

Key details from the presentation included: Cheshire’s average percent of target achieved in ELA and math moved from the sixties into the seventies; for math in grades 3–8 the district outperformed its 2018–19 pre‑pandemic level; and the district ranked about 20th in the state on the measures cited (noting smaller districts with far fewer test‑takers affect rankings). The board also heard that chronic absenteeism rose after COVID and has since declined; panelists linked improved attendance to stronger NGSS (Next Generation Science Standards) results in elementary grades.

Board members asked for clarifications about the difference between “meets/exceeds” and growth targets; the assistant superintendent explained meets/exceeds refers to meeting standards for the grade level and is separate from the personalized growth target used to measure individual progress. The report also showed Cheshire’s SAT School Day participation was high — approximately 95.9% of the class took the SAT in school — and that 82% of the class of 2025 enrolled in a four‑year college, with another 9% in two‑year programs.

Discussion and next steps: the administration said it will focus on grade 3 after noticing a slide, continue work to close gaps for high‑needs students (multilingual learners and special education), and use committee work to target interventions where growth is lagging. The board also approved repeating the district’s safe school climate surveys in October to increase parent responses and gather fresh data to guide policy and practice.

The presentation and discussion were part of the curriculum committee report; no formal vote on specific instructional changes occurred at the meeting. The board asked staff to provide more disaggregated data and classroom‑level indicators to support interventions described in the presentation.