BASD sophomores show marked improvement over last year
By Jennifer Eisenbart
Staff Writer
Before the start of the testing process for Burlington Area School District students this fall, district administrators felt confident that the changes they had made – both in the curriculum and in testing procedures – would benefit students.
And after a sub-par year of scores in 2011-12, the district wanted to show those plans could and should work.
With the preliminary results now back for the Burlington High School sophomore class PLAN testing – the middle test on the ACT testing platform – members of that administration are finding those changes worked.
BHS sophomores averaged a point to a point and a half higher on all areas of the test and in the composite score.
In 2011, the sophomore class had an average composite score of 17.2. This year, the sophomores averaged 18.5.
The breakdown among the various portions of the test saw the English score average jump from 16.6 to 18.3, the math score jump from 17.3 to 18.3, the reading score go up from 16.6 to 18.0 and the science score move from 17.7 to 19.1.
The baselines for college readiness are 15 in English, 19 in math, 17 in reading and 21 in science.
While BASD Superintendent Peter Smet did caution this was just one piece of data, it was admittedly a very good one.
“We’ll be studying and looking at what that is,” he said. “Hopefully, those numbers will translate to our WKCEs (Wisconsin Knowledge and Concepts Exam).”
Smet said a number of changes – including this sophomore class using the seven-period day with core subjects being taught year-round – could have played a part in the higher scores.
WKCE tests were being administered this week.
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