2014 Maine High School Assessment (SAT) Results
Post date: Oct 06, 2014 11:28:52 AM
You can view the actual results report from the Department of Education. If you are unfamiliar with the layout of the report, here is what you will see:
Page 2: Summary of Scaled Scores. The left hand column shows a three year summary of the average scaled score for DISHS compared to the state. The average scaled score is essentially the average score in the school.
Page 2: Summary of Proficiency. The right side of page two shows charts representing the percentage of students who fall into each of the four levels of proficiency in the four content areas assessed (reading, math, writing, and science).
When looking at the year-over-year charts below, it is also worth noting that the the highest three year average in all four content areas has been over the past three years. And, while more apparent in some content areas than others, there is also a general positive trend in each content area.
The results of the 2014 Maine High School Assessment- which consists of the May SAT and a science augmentation test taken in April- have been received. The percentage of students deemed proficient in reading and science increased slightly over the previous year, decreased slightly in writing, and decreased rather significantly in math from last year’s all-time high score.
While the decreases were anticipated, as a school we are very pleased with the performance of this group of students. We have known for three years that collectively they had some significant academic gaps, and we have worked diligently with the students and provided substantial resources to help the students improve their skills. While the students did not start at the same place as some of our previous classes of students, they made greater growth collectively than any other group of students in recent memory. They should be commended for their dedication to improving their academic skills over the past three years.
Page 4: Critical Reading Results. The table on the MDOE report shows the results of the last three years in reading, broken down by proficiency level. 38% of DISHS test-takers were at the distinguished or proficient levels in 2013-14, a slight increase from the previous year but continuing a generally positive trend in reading proficiency, as demonstrated in the year-over-year chart to the right:
Page 6: Math Results. The table on the MDOE report shows the results of the last three years in math, broken down by proficiency level. Only 37% of DISHS test-takers were at the distinguished or proficient levels in 2013-14 a notable decrease over the previous two years but still resulting in the strongest three year trend to date, as demonstrated in the year-over-year chart to the right:
Page 8: Writing Results. The table on the MDOE report shows the results of the last three years in writing, broken down by proficiency level. Only 29% of DISHS test-takers were at the distinguished or proficient levels in 2013-14, a decrease compared to the previous two years but considerably higher than the 10% of the same group of students who scored in the proficient range in writing on the 10th grade PSAT. An incredible amount of effort, including last fall’s Academic Writing course and other resources helped us get six additional students to the “proficient” level in three semesters. We also managed to help five students score above 400 on the SAT writing test, which is definitely a high enough score to leave post-secondary doors open for students. Again, the year-over-year chart to the right shows that the highest three year average has occurred over the past three years:
Page 10: Science Results. The table on the MDOE report shows the results of the last three years in science, broken down by proficiency level. 26% of DISHS test-takers were at the distinguished or proficient levels in 2013-14, a slight increase over the previous year as well as many of the previous years, as demonstrated in the year-over-year chart to the right Having a more stable teaching situation in physical science last year went a long way towards turning this trend around and should pay greater dividends going forward. While the scores are clearly rising over time, there is definitely a need to make more rapid gains in science.
