Local Students Score Well

On CAPT Exam

By Larissa Lytwyn

Newtown High School sophomores who took the Connecticut Academic Performance Test (CAPT) last spring scored at or above goals in all four areas, said Vice Principal Lorrie Aresenian.

Progress was highest in the writing portion of the exam. While 62 percent of sophomores reached the writing goal in 2002, 74 percent reached it in 2003.

Last spring Ms Aresenian worked with two college interns, now student teaching in the district, to develop writing workshops to help students improve their writing skills. “We do a lot of preparation for this test,” Ms Aresenian noted. “But we do not teach to the test. CAPT reflects what is already being taught in the classroom.”

Gains were also seen in mathematics, with 70 percent of students achieving goal standards, a three-percentage-point rise from 2002. Sixty-five percent of students reached science goals in 2003, compared to 59 percent in 2002. There was also a four-percentage-point increase in reading, with 72 percent of students reaching the CAPT goal. Finally, 48 percent of students met goals in all four sections, compared to 38 percent in 2002.

First administered in 1997, CAPT has steadily developed into a comprehensive evaluation of how well students have done in various academic areas, said Ms Aresenian. “This is how the CAPT differs from the SAT,” she said. “Even reading and writing sections are drawn from different academic areas.” An example, she continued, would be a reading of an article on gene splitting.

While most students did well on the exam, 43 out of the 364 test-takers did not meet goals in any of the sections. “We will work with these students on an individual basis to help them,” assured Ms Aresenian. Each student, in fact, is given thorough feedback on his or her test-taking performance.

“It’s a very individualized process,” she said.