Date: Fri 08-Nov-1996

Publication: Bee

Author: DOTTIE

Quick Words:

schools-master-test

Full Text:

Hawley Students Ask, `Why Take CMTs?'

B Y D OROTHY E VANS

Ever since 1979, Connecticut public school children in the fourth, sixth and

eighth grades have taken the CMTs (Connecticut Mastery Test) - usually

submitting to the ordeal without question.

They've read the questions carefully and considered the answer choices given.

Then, armed with sharpened No. 2 pencils, they've pressed hard to fill in the

bubbles on the answer sheet, while tackling the four CMT test areas in math,

reading, listening comprehension and writing.

The test is usually given over a period of a week in late September, and the

students spend six or seven hours, total, out of their regular class time, to

complete it.

As they took the CMT test, students might have wondered why they were doing

this and what did it mean, but they didn't often follow up on those questions.

Not so, Jarret Liotta's fourth grade at Hawley School.

"They had tons of questions and comments after the test was over, so I tried

to channel them," Mr Liotta said, explaining that he and the class decided to

write letters to the state Department of Education, stating their concerns.

"I encourage my class to find out why things are done," Mr Liotta wrote in a

cover letter he addressed to Bill Congero, coordinator of Elementary and

Middle School Assessment.

Deciding to respond to their inquiries in person, Mr Congero paid a visit to

the class October 23.

"If you were interested enough to write, I was going to come down," he told

the 25 students who were armed with questions written out on 3x5 cards.

It seemed the students' letters had expressed several common concerns. They

didn't see why they should have to take the CMTs and they wondered why the

test didn't cover science or social studies.

They thought some of the questions were too easy and they wanted to know how

the test was scored and what happened to the results.

They wished there was more chance for creative writing.

And then, there was that clown thing.

Gozzie the Clown was a speaking character featured on a cassette tape that was

used during the listening comprehension section of the test. The students

wrote Mr Congero that Gozzie was "very annoying," "dumb" and "distracting," in

part because his voice was hard to understand.

"I'm sorry if Gozzie's voice distracted some of you," Mr Congero said,

explaining that the annoying aspect of Gozzie's voice hadn't been apparent

during the pilot test the state had run.

In addition, Mr Congero said that taking the test was something all public

school children had to do because it was required by law. Test results were

used, he said, by the schools to assess how well certain subjects were being

taught and possibly to make changes in their curriculum where they were

needed.

"Also, the taxpayers want to know" that their money was being well invested,

Mr Liotta pointed out.

"Parents want to see [from the test results] that we're not just having

Halloween parties all the time," Mr Liotta said.

Mr Congero also told the students that while some questions on the test seemed

too easy, "they might not be easy for students in other school systems around

the state. Some kids struggle," Mr Congero said.

The tests would be corrected by computers that scanned the answer sheets, he

explained, and also by consultants, who read the writing samples.

The CMT results would be returned to the schools by December 13, he added,

including a parent report on each child's performance that would be sent to

their homes.