Amity District 5 Test Scores Rise, Beat State Averages

The results from the 2011 Connecticut Academic Performance Test are in, and while the state improved as a whole, Amity Regional District #5 did even better. The scores for tenth graders improved in every category.

The single biggest jump in performance was matheticas, which saw 80.7 percent of the student taking the mandated test reaching the state goal. In 2010, only 65.8 passed this threshold. Science and reading also saw near double-digit improvements in students reaching the state goal.

The most muted improvement was in writing, which saw a small increase in score but a .2 percent drop to 97.9 percent of students being deemed proficient. On a scale of five, proficiency is a three while meeting the state goal is a four.

Amity High School has students from Orange, Woodbridge and Bethany.

The Connecticut Department of Education offered tempered enthusiasm about the statewide results.

 “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 Commissioner George Coleman said in a statement. “However, the magnitude of the increases and the relatively flat performance in reading and science is disconcerting, given the urgency that I feel about preparing all of our high school graduates to be ready to succeed as they enter college or the state’s workforce.”