OVERVIEW OF STUDENT TESTING PROGRAM

For well over a decade Connecticut has been recognized as a national leader in the development of rigorous and reliable tests. Not only do these instruments measure what students know and are able to do in relation to specific educational standards, but also they have clear diagnostic capabilities for teachers and school administrators, and for education in general. Simply put, Connecticut’s tests help assess how students are performing academically.

        All students are tested annually at Grades 4, 6, 8 and 10. Only certain students with limited English proficiency may be exempt from taking the tests.

        The Connecticut Mastery Test (CMT) has been administered each fall since 1985 to students in Grades 4, 6 and 8 in the areas of language arts (reading, writing, listening and mechanics of language) and mathematics. The CMT was updated and improved in 1993 and 2000.

        The Connecticut Academic Performance Test (CAPT) is administered in the spring to all Grade 10 students and was given for the first time in 1994. The second generation of the test will be administered for the first time during May 2001. In addition to science and mathematics, the CAPT includes sections on reading and writing across the disciplines.

        The CAPT is part of a testing system that provides a logical progression from assessing specific objectives at the lower grades to focusing more on the integration and application of skills at the high school level. These tests provide a challenging and accurate assessment of student achievement statewide. More specifically, the CAPT helps to:

• •assess students’ academic strengths and weaknesses;
• •analyze and modify instructional techniques to address student achievement;
• •review curriculum and schoolwide educational strategies to target academic improvements; and
• •increase the accountability of the educational system.

The Tests

The CAPT is not at all like the traditional standardized achievement tests. Instead of being tested to see where each student ranks compared to others who took the test, students take criterion-referenced tests designed to measure how well they perform against established standards in a variety of essential and specific skills. Not only do they measure what students know, but Connecticut’s tests also measure what students can do with what they know by asking them to respond in writing to questions in order to show or explain their work.

        The CAPT includes a science section which consists of a combination of multiple-choice questions and those requiring written responses. Students’ understanding of important concepts in life science, physical science, and earth and space science and their ability to apply those concepts in problem-solving situations are assessed. In addition, experimentation skills are assessed by asking students to use scientific reasoning to solve problems. Some of the experimentation questions are related to a laboratory activity that students perform prior to the written test. Specific information about the design of the science test, including the CAPT science framework, sample multiple-choice and constructed-response items, as well as examples of scored student papers, can be found elsewhere in this handbook.

The Results

Results of the CAPT are reported in various ways and are intended to help improve the performance of students, support modifications in curriculum and instructional practices, and stimulate higher expectations for student achievement.

        School districts receive sets of student reports, which show how well individual students did on each section of the CAPT. Results are shared with students and parents in October and November.

        The CAPT is not a high school graduation test. Students who meet the state goal standards on the CAPT receive a "Certification of Mastery" on their high school transcripts.  Students who do not meet the goal state standard in one or more areas have the option of retaking those parts of the test in Grades 11 and 12 in order to gain "Certification of Mastery".

The Standard

The standard for each subtest of the CAPT represents a demanding level of achievement, reasonable to expect of students in the spring of 10th grade.

Students who score at this level possess the knowledge, skills and critical thinking abilities expected of Connecticut’s high school students as they prepare for the workforce and/or higher education. These students can apply what they know to complex problems and can effectively communicate their understanding.

 

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