BHS 1st in DRG in Reading; 2nd, 3rd in Other Areas

The Connecticut Department of Education (DOE) released the 2011 Connecticut Academic Performance Test (CAPT) results on Tuesday, showing Brookfield High School (BHS) ranking well among other high schools in its District Reference Group (DRG), which includes Avon, Cheshire, Fairfield, Farmington, Glastonbury, Granby, Greenwich, Guildford, Madison, Monroe, New Fairfield and Newtown.

Compared to other schools in the DRG, Brookfield 10th graders performed best on the reading portion of the CAPT test, with 98.3 percent scoring at or above proficiency. Brookfield students came in third for meeting the goal (74.8 percent) however, coming in behind Guildford (78.2 percent) and Farmington (76.2 percent).

The reverse was true of Brookfield’s performance on the writing portion, where 90.2 percent of students scored at or above goal, putting them first in the DRG. Brookfield came in third in the DRG for obtaining proficiency on the writing portion (98.7 percent) behind Madison (99.1 percent) and Guildford (98.9 percent).

BHS came in second in proficiency in both math (97.4 percent) and science (97 percent), after Granby (98.4 percent) and Madison (97.8 percent). In achieving goal, Brookfield’s scores put the district in fourth in science with 76.5 percent and tied in the middle of the pack with Cheshire for sixth in math with 74.2 percent.

Statewide, 10th grade scores improved in students achieving both proficiency and goal in each area except reading, which declined by a percentage point in both proficiency and goal.

“Historically, the percentage of students scoring at or above the Goal level has been an important indicator of the quality of secondary school education,” according to a press release issued by the DOE. “The percentage of students scoring at or above the Proficient level on the CAPT is used to identify schools and districts that are making ‘Adequately Yearly Progress’ (AYP) under No Child Left Behind” legislation.

“The overall trend of increasing percentages of Grade 10 students scoring at the proficient and goal levels in mathematics and writing is encouraging, given that Connecticut is also decreasing high school drop-out rates and increasing graduation rates,” Acting DOE Commissioner George Coleman said.

“However,” he added, “The magnitude of the increases and the relatively flat performance in reading and science is disconcerting.”