Improvements and declines in math, reading and science scores are neck and neck for Carbon County School District No. 2 students, according to data from the 2013 Proficiency Assessments for Wyoming Students (PAWS).
The data shows CCSD 2 students improved in eight areas from last year: fourth grade math and science; fifth grade reading; sixth grade reading and math; seventh grade math and reading; eighth grade reading; and 11th grade math. The data also shows students’ performance declined in eight areas: third grade reading; fourth grade reading; fifth grade math; sixth grade math; eighth grade math and science; and 11th grade reading and science.
But looking at data within a period of two years cannot accurately depict student performance within the district, said CCSD 2 Superintendent Bob Gates.
“It’s hard to draw any conclusions with one year when our numbers are so small,” Gates said.
CCSD 2 officials look at five years of PAWS data in order to gauge student performance, Gates said.
Gates said, overall, the district has seen a steady and consistent improvement from students within the past five years of PAWS test scores, which shows the percentage of students who are proficient and advanced.
According to the 2013 PAWS data, the percentage of third grade students rated proficient or advanced dropped from 82 percent in 2012 to 67.37 percent.
CCSD 2 Instructional Facilitator Peggy Hotchkiss said she was not sure exactly what caused the decline in that specific area, but teachers and principals are aware.
“We just don’t know what is going on, but it is something the staff is very aware of,” she said.
Hotchkiss said the decline could be due to some changes that were made to the PAWS test, which added questions related to new state standards called Common Core, standards that have not been fully adopted by CCSD 2, Hotchkiss said.
Hotchkiss said the decline could also be due to a certain population of students in the third grade that moved into CCSD 2 later in the school year, and did not have the opportunity to study for the PAWS test.
“Those kids were not as prepared for the test,” Hotchkiss said.
Statewide, students’ performances on the test declined from 2012.
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