The 2009 Connecticut Mastery Test, SAT, and Advanced Placement Exam results have been released, and all three illustrate a continued positive trend for the education of North Haven students.

All standardized tests are administered toward the end of a school year. The CMT tests - administered in third through eighth grade - measure students’ abilities in mathematics, reading, writing, and science.

“I’m very pleased with the Mastery scores,” said Superintendent Sara-Jane R. Querfeld. “We’ve been focusing on math and science.”

North Haven’s CMT mathematics scores have trended upward in all grades over a four-year period from 2006 to 2009.

In 2006, 62.4 percent of the town’s third graders scored at or above the mathematics test goal, while 88.3 percent scored at or above test proficiency. In 2009, the third grade percentages were 79.5 at or above goal and 92.4 at or above proficiency.

In 2006, 64.7 percent of North Haven fourth graders scored at or above the mathematics goal, while 86 percent scored at or above proficiency. In 2009, the percentages were 71.7 and 91.1, respectively. Over the same four-year-period, fifth graders rose from 63.2 percent and 85.3 percent to 77.1 and 92.7.

Sixth graders were the lone class which has not taken part in the mathematics four-year upward trend. Their 2006 percentages, 64.7 and 86.4, improved only to 66.1 and 88.8 in 2009. In fact, the last school year represented a recession for the grade – 2008 sixth graders achieved percentages of 71.1 and 90.3.

“Sixth grade is a tough year,” Querfeld said. “The sixth graders are coming in from the four small elementary schools and adjusting to the junior high school. They’re making adjustments and beginning adolescence.”

Querfeld added that the sixth grade stagnation was a state-wide trend. “There’s a lot going on in the kids’ lives,” she said.

North Haven’s seventh graders, who are tested after a year of junior high experience, significantly renewed the upward trend. In 2006, 55.2 of the seventh graders scored at or above the mathematics goal and 79.9 scored at or above proficiency. By 2009, the percentages had blossomed to 75.2 and 93.3.

“Seventh grade did a wonderful job,” Querfeld said. “They were really outstanding.”

Eighth graders also experienced an upward trend in mathematics, but with less dramatic results - the 2006 percentages of 62.6 and 83.6 steadily grew to 69.1 and 86.9 by 2009.

Querfeld quoted several factors as pertinent to the significant positive trend in math.

One factor in North Haven’s successful refocusing on mathematics was the creation of an elementary school math coach. The math coach position, currently filled by former North Haven teacher Paul Castiglione, visits the town’s four elementary schools on a rotating basis to work with teachers on their approach to mathematical education.

“He works with teachers to diagnose students’ problems,” Querfeld said of Castiglione. “He trains teachers in strategies to take reluctant learners and move forward with them.”

Querfeld also attributed the success to reinforcing students’ mental math capabilities.

“Over the past two years, we’ve been insisting on quick recall of math facts,” the superintendent said. “They should know cold what the math facts are – there is no more counting on fingers and toes.”

Another important factor in improving learning across all grades and all subjects has been Querfeld’s “vertical” and “horizontal” teacher walkthrough program. Vertical walkthroughs allow instructors to observe classrooms in different school buildings and grades.

“It lets high school teachers see what is going on in elementary school, and the other way around,” Querfeld said of the vertical program. “It amazes high school teachers to see the instruction that high school and middle school students say that they didn’t do, but actually did.”

Horizontal walkthroughs allow teachers to observe the classrooms of grades directly above and below their own. This helps ease the transition from one grade to another, and to make sure that there are not any gaps in the learning between the two years.

The superintendent said that the walkthroughs allow teachers to grade and observe other instructor’s proficiency while also tracking leaning over the course of many grades.

“It’s been very helpful,” Querfeld said of the walkthrough programs.

The superintendent said that the town’s teachers have been supportive of the new educational programs. “The teachers have embraced the changes,” she said. “Our teachers worked very hard to make certain our students were successful.”

CMT science testing, which was implemented in 2008 and is only administered to the fifth and eighth grades, saw the most North Haven improvement in fifth graders at or above goal scores. In 2008, 59.9 percent of the town’s fifth graders scored at or above goal, a number which rose to 70.4 in 2009. In 2008, 89.5 of fifth graders scored at or above proficiency, while 90.4 percent achieved the same mark in 2009.

Querfeld attributed the improvement in elementary school science to increased and more hands-on subject learning.

“I think a factor is that we’re doing more science in elementary schools than ever before,” the superintendent said. “We now have science labs in all elementary schools, something we’ve never had.”

Eighth grade remained almost identical in science. In 2008, 74.5 percent were at or above goal, compared to 74.4 percent a year later. The change in the percentage at or above proficiency was also negligible – 88.1 percent in 2008, 88.4 percent in 2009.

However, the makeup of the eighth grade science numbers was promising. In 2008, the 74.5 percent at or above goal was comprised of 58.5 percent at goal and 16 percent above goal. In 2009, the 74.4 percent was comprised of 51.8 percent at goal and 22.6 percent above goal.

The CMT also tests reading and writing in grades three through eight. North Haven has continually found success over a four-year period in the two subjects, with little percentage difference in the years 2006 to 2008.

In elementary school reading, the 2009 third grade percentages were 65.4 percent at or above goal and 85 percent at or above proficiency; 65.3 percent and 81 percent in fourth grade; and 75 percent and 84.2 percent in fifth grade. In junior high, the 2009 reading percentages were 70.9 and 86 in sixth grade, 82.5 and 91.4 in seventh grade, and 72.4 and 84.5 in eighth grade.

In elementary school writing, the 2009 third grade percentages were 77.9 percent at or above goal and 93.7 percent at or above proficiency; 76.4 percent and 90.9 percent in fourth grade; and 77.1 percent and 90.4 percent in fifth grade. In junior high, the 2009 reading percentages were 65.1 and 85.8 in sixth grade, 69.1 and 88.8 in seventh grade, and 77 and 92 in eighth grade.

In terms of the CMT scores of local towns, North Haven performed successfully in comparison with Branford, East Haven, Hamden, North Branford, and Wallingford. North Haven consistently placed a higher percentage of students at or above goal and proficiency than all the aforementioned towns except Wallingford, with which North Haven achieved similar numbers.

Querfeld said that one negative aspect of the 2009 CMT results were the math and reading scores of middle school special education students. “Math and reading did not make as much yearly progress as they should have,” the superintendent said. “We’re focusing on that so that they do better next year.”

Querfeld added that 2009-10 efforts will also include the improvement of reading skills in all grades. “Reading hasn’t grown as much as other areas,” she said.

Additionally, the local school systems will add on to the improvements of the past. “We will also continue to work on math and science,” Querfeld said.

The 2009 SAT and AP scores were also favorable for North Haven.

Reorganized in 2005, the SATs measure critical reading, mathematics, and writing, and grade each section out of 800 possible points. In the 2009 SATs, NHHS students averaged 506 points in critical reading, 512 in mathematics, and 508 in writing, up from 498, 508, and 512 in 2008, respectively. The North Haven scores fell largely in line with national and state averages.

The 2009 AP tests results showcased the high school’s continued success in promoting advanced studies and offering challenging electives. Last school year, NHHS students took 252 AP tests, which are graded on a scale from one to five, with five being the highest score awarded. Students can take more than one AP test. An advanced grade of four or five can be counted as college credit.

In 2009, 55 tests, or 22 percent, received fours, while 34 tests, or 13 percent, received fives. The AP subjects which receive an advanced grade of four or five included biology, calculus, computer science, English, environmental science, government and politics, physics, psychology, Spanish, statistics, studio art, and U.S. History.

“I’m proud of our students and teachers for the good work that they’ve done with AP classes,” said NHHS principal Dr. Russell Dallai.

The principal added that he was impressed by both the number of advanced grades achieved and the burgeoning enrollment in AP classes regardless of eventual scores.

“We do have very good scores, and I’m happy about the scores,” Dallai said, “but we also love to see kids challenging themselves by taking APs in general.”

All of the 2009 school test results represent an enormous amount of useable data, and Querfeld said that the school system will form data teams at each school to examine the scores. The superintendent was pleased with the test scores and the success of the new educational programs, but ultimately had to thank the true source of the improved North Haven education.

“I really have to give all the credit to the teachers and students,” Querfeld said.