Bloomfield, CT – With the recent release of the 2013 District and School Performance Index by the Connecticut State Department of Education (CSDE), the district has further evidence that the reforms begun during the 2011-2012 school year, and fully implemented in the 2012-2013 school year, continue to have a significant impact on achievement across all subject areas and overall graduation rates.

“We are very excited by our results!” explained Superintendent James Thompson, Ed.D. “We also recognize that we must continue to strive to make Bloomfield a district that is competing at the highest level of achievement in student performance.”  Dr. Thompson explained, “this new tool for measuring performance is a great tool for parents and the community to compare our growth from year to year.” 

The Connecticut State Department of Education (CSDE) has established an ‘88’ as the goal, or statewide target achievement level. In addition, the CSDE has set incremental goals for individual districts, based on a three year average. Carmen Arace Intermediate writing performance approached this with an index of 87.1.  As a district, Bloomfield Schools met 100% (5 of 5) of the 2013 Overall incremental Performance targets set by the CSDE. The CMT district performance target of 74.5 was exceeded by 3.3 points, at 77.8. The CAPT district performance target of 60.4 was exceeded by 3.8 points, at 64.2. Other measures included an examination of the size of the performance gaps between subgroups in comparison with the ‘All Student’ group.  This measure “draws appropriate attention to subgroup performance and allows for schools and districts to be held accountable for closing achievement gaps.”[i]   Bloomfield’s performance indices results for the CMT and CAPT demonstrated that there was no gap of 10 or more points for the majority of subgroups.  The continued increases in the performance index for CMT and CAPT across subject areas and subgroups confirm the district’s trend to close the achievement gap between Bloomfield and the state of Connecticut.

Connecticut Council for Education Reform noted, in their recent bulletin, “Only Bloomfield and Stamford managed to meet elementary and high school targets for their low-income populations.” 

Connecticut Mastery Test strength areas revealed in the report for Bloomfield student performance include math and writing. There’s an especially powerful showing for students who identify themselves as belonging to the subgroup of “Black or African American” or “Hispanic or Latino”. This pattern repeats itself in the area of writing, with additional subgroups exceeding overall district performance, including “English Language Learners”, students who participate in the “Free/Reduced priced lunch program”, and students who are identified as “High Needs”. Overall, Bloomfield met targets on 27 of the 32 possible measures, resulting in a CMT successful target rate of 84%. 

Connecticut Academic Performance Test strength areas revealed in the report for Bloomfield student performance include subgroup performance, reading, writing, and science. Students who identify themselves as belonging to the subgroup of “Black or African American” outperformed the “All Student” district performance index for CAPT, which is 64.2. In the subject area of reading, students who participate in the “Free/Reduced priced lunch program” outperformed the “All Student” district performance index for CAPT by .8 points. Impressive performances in writing begin with a subject area performance index that exceeds the district overall index at 76.5. In this content area, for students who are identified “Black or African American”, students who participate in the “Free/Reduced priced lunch program”, and students who are identified as “High Needs” consistently score more than 10 points above the district average. In the final area, CAPT Science, the subject area performance index of 68.5 exceeds the district overall index of 64.2. Students who identify themselves as belonging to the subgroup of “Black or African American” outperformed the “All Student” district performance index for CAPT with a 68.5 subject area index. Students who participate in the “Free/Reduced priced lunch program” and students who are identified as “High Needs” consistently score more than 4 points above the district performance index.   Overall, Bloomfield met targets on 20 of the 22 possible measures, resulting in a CAPT successful target rate of 91% 

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