At the October 23, 2023, Board of Education meeting, the board heard much good news from the Chief Academic Officer, Dr. Laura Norbut. She reported on the results of several state assessments:
Smarter Balanced Assessments (SBAC)
Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)
LAS Links (which measure English Language Proficiency for English Language Learners)
Additionally, Dr. Norbut spoke about the results of the PSAT, SAT, and Advanced Placement achievements of the district. Below, we dive into some of the data and have provided screenshots of Norbut's presentation.
SBAC results
The SBAC test is administered in grades 3 through 8; students in these grades take it every year. District-wide, looking at grade-level data, Stafford students have made gains in both ELA (+0.8%) and Math (+1.2%) since 2022 but haven't quite gotten back to pre-pandemic levels yet. Scores were roughly five points higher pre-pandemic compared to today.
When looking at cohort-level data — which means following the progress of a group of kids over time — the gains followed the same trend, where the scores are higher in 2023 for most of the cohorts than they were in 2022, but they are still catching up with the pre-pandemic scores.
NGSS results
The NGSS test is administered to students in grades 5, 8, and 11. Stafford saw gains by each grade compared to 2022, with grade 11 (current grade 12) gaining more than ten points, meaning over 62% of them either met or exceeded the NGSS benchmarks set by the state.
LAS Links results
The LAS Links test is typically administered as needed for English Learners (ELLs) and Multilingual Learners (MLs). The growth rates in 2022 for Literacy and Oral Language were 25% and 12.5%, respectively. In 2023, growth rates were 54.5% and 18.2%, respectively, representing significant gains for the EL/ML population of Stafford.
Results of AP tests
The total number of students taking an AP class, though fluctuating, has stayed roughly consistent over the last five years, with the number of AP exams taken slightly increasing relative to the number of students taking an exam. For the 2022-2023 year (the most recent data), 60% of students taking an AP exam received a 3 or above. AP scores range from 1-5, a score of 3 is roughly equivalent to getting a B- in a college-level course.
Interestingly, some students are opting to take the AP tests even when they have not taken an AP class in the subject.
PSAT and SAT results
Those of you without middle and high school students may be surprised to know grades 8, 9, 10, and 11 take PSATs. The graduating classes of 2024, 2025, and 2026 saw their scores increase from the previous year. The average score for the class of 2024 — which took the SAT in the Spring of 2023 — jumped nearly 100 points since the PSAT in the Fall of 2021.
For students in grade 11, SAT School Day (SATs offered during regular school hours, rather than on a Saturday), the average scores on both ELA and Math increased year-over-year while the percent of students at or above the benchmark score increased as well, to 63.6% and 47.5% respectively.
Stafford High School's average SAT score for all students put them above all the other schools in Stafford's District Reference Group (DRG) — a grouping of public school districts across the state by socioeconomic status that also have a high school. Additionally, the average score for the High Needs population put them in the top spot in the DRG for Math and number 2 for ELA.
Finally, every year, the state scores each public school district using a combination of scores on the above-mentioned assessments, along with attendance, fitness, enrollment in arts courses, and other measures of college/career readiness. All of the scores mentioned above are combined into Performance Indices such as ELA, Math, and Science. All of Stafford's scores were above the state average when both looking at all students and also when looking at just the High Needs population.
Stafford High School stood out on their Performance Indices on ELA, Math, and Science, and performed the highest in the DRG, besting 11 other reference schools.
Policy changes were on the docket, but old policies caused consternation
At the same meeting, the BOE voted to adopt a number of new and revised policies based on the Shipman & Goodman model. During the public comment period — which is open to physical attendees as well as virtual attendees — there were no questions or comments about the policies from anyone outside of the board. In fact, most of the discussion about the policy changes centered more around changes that allow more school personnel to maintain and administer opioid antagonists (medications that help reverse an opioid overdose). But after the Superintendent’s Update newsletter went out and informed the school community of the changes, minor chaos ensued on the Stafford Springs Discussion Page, where several board members weighed in to clarify.
The following policies were at hand during the meeting:
Policy and Reg 5114 - Student Discipline (Revised)
Policy 5141.21 Administration of Student Medications
Policy 5143 Health Assessments: Screenings (New)
Policy 5144 Immunizations (New)
Policy and Form 6172.3 Homeschooling (Revised)
Bylaw 9323 Construction and Posting of Agenda (Revised)
Bylaw 9325.2 Order of Business (Revised)
However, the one that seems to have caught the imagination of the public is Policy 5143.
Due to legislative updates since Stafford’s current policy was last reviewed and revised, the policy has been updated as follows per the BOE meeting minutes:
It’s all relatively mundane stuff — though I was personally surprised to find out that schools are now in the oral health assessment business — but a different part of the policy document caught the eye of some locals when they started looking through the policy documents:
While the thought of schools doing “invasive” physical exams or screenings on students is understandably upsetting, the policy also clearly gives families (specifically, parents/guardians and/or students over the age of 18, the ability to opt out. Still, the policy raised enough ire that Superintendent Moccio released a clarification of the policy. The most important part of which is this:
“The amendment provides protections FOR students against the completion of specific surveys and physical exams without prior notice to parents and an ability to opt-out.”
Here is more from the statement:
“I write to provide clarification regarding Policy 5143 Health Assessments: Screenings, as it has come to my attention that there is some confusion, and much discussion on social media, specifically regarding Section VII - Other Non-Emergency Invasive Physical Examinations and Screenings. The District does not practice any type of physical examination of "private areas" of students. Should a student present to our nursing staff with a concern regarding that region of their body, the District will continue to contact parents / guardians, inform them of the situation, and request they seek their own professional medical assessment.
One may ask, ‘Then why is this necessary and/or included in the policy?’ Shipman & Goodwin has confirmed that this section was taken verbatim from the Student Privacy Policy Office of the United States Department of Education's Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA), 20 U.S.C. Sec. 1232h. The PPRA requires any school district that receives funding from the U.S. Department of Education to develop a policy or policies pertaining to various matters, including physical examinations and screenings of students. Section VII of Policy 5143 utilizes the definitional language from the PPRA regarding ‘non-emergency invasive physical examination or screening’. While Shipman & Goodwin is unsure why Congress chose that particular definition in the statute, they have considered two possibilities: (1) it applies to school districts all over the country, which may have had practices very different from those in Connecticut and (2) it may have been meant to address rogue employees.”
Ultimately, like so much policy language, the section in question seems to be there “just in case,” putting a procedure in writing to ensure all bases are covered in the case of an outlying event.
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