| The December 6 1996, trial ruling by the Superior Court against the school districts | Page 39 |
The state Assessment Tests have four levels of proficiency: advanced, proficient, basic and novice. Students who score below "basic" on the third grade language arts test "extract limited meaning from what they read, hear, and view."
Similarly, students who score below "basic" on the third grade mathematics tests are defined as students who frequently make errors adding and subtracting one and two digit whole numbers; have extremely limited understanding of fractions, geometry and measurement; and are unable to apply mathematical skills to problem-solving situations.
The school districts attributed their lower test scores to a failure to incorporate the Curricular Frameworks into their curriculum, insufficient student access to remedial and intervention programs, lack of curricular development, and high student to teacher ratios.
The Superior Court discounted the differences in the test results by citing an example of a disparity in third grade test scores within the Concord school district. It also stated it would take several more years of test results to produce reliable information.
The Superior Court overlooked that one of the purposes of the state Assessment Tests is to serve as a diagnostic tool to point out needed areas of improvement.
Evidence was presented that the state offers no special assistance to the school districts to help them raise their state Assessment Test scores. However, the Superior Court heard testimony that the Massachusetts and Kentucky Assessment Testing Programs will target a district that has poor tests results and provide the district with the expertise and funding necessary to increase its tests scores.
B) National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)The Superior Court cited testimony from a state witness that the NAEP tests provide the best data available with which to compare the performance of New Hampshire students with students from other states. For both subject areas tested, reading and math, New Hampshire is among the highest scoring states on every administration of the test.
C) SAT'sThe Court stated that, "Although SAT scores are not a perfect measure of student performance because the examiners are self-selected and tend to disproportionately represent higher achievers, state by state comparison of SAT scores provide some information of school quality."
The Court cites the testimony of state witness Dr. Charles Pasquale that New Hampshire ranks somewhere in the top ten states in the nation in SAT scores.
The school districts presented a 1995 report by Doug Hall, entitled, "Analysis of Educational Achievement in NH's Public Schools" that demonstrated that New Hampshire's SAT scores are greatly inflated by the scores of students from parochial and private schools located in the state, such as Phillips Exeter Academy and St. Paul's School in Concord.
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