Improving Groton Schools: Fitch Middle School

Every six days, groups of teachers at Fitch Middle School get together to look at what's happening with their students.

They're studying student scores on the Connecticut Mastery Test, on unit tests from class, on MAP assessment tests, which stands for Measures of Academic Progress. They're assessing who's doing well, who's confused, who needs help with an area like "least common multiple".

"We're looking at what students know so we don't repeat instructions . . .and we focus our instruction where they're struggling," Principal Robert Pendolphi said. 

Fitch Middle School enrolls 407 students, and they're a diverse group: 45 percent receive free or reduced price lunch, 43 percent have at least one parent in the military and 13 percent receive special education services.

Two of the school's six goals focus on improving the reading and math performance of students from low-income families, although the school has made progress in this area. From 2009 to 2011, the percentage of children receiving free and reduced price meals who demonstrated proficiency or better in reading jumped from 63.5 to 82.3 percent.

"If we can bring those students up 5 percent a year, we're going to be making some big inroads," Pendolphi said. Fitch also reported double-digit improvement in the scores of black, Hispanic and special education students.

The Improvement Plan

 The school's improvement plan looks at the student body as a whole but also targets two groups: students receiving special education and those receiving free and reduced price lunch. It holds students to the standard of "goal", which is higher than basic proficiency.

The goals for the next three years are listed below:

• Increase the percentage of students receiving free and reduced meals who score at "goal" or higher in reading by 15 percent.

• Increase the percentage of students receiving special education who score at "goal" or higher in reading by 15 percent.

• Increase the percentage of students receiving free and reduced meals who score at "goal" and higher in math by 15 percent.

• Increase the percentage of students receiving special education who score at "goal" or higher in math by 15 percent.

• Decrease referrals to the office for discipline by 30 percent.

• Make sure all teams reviewing school and individual student data complete 100 percent of state requirements.

Testing Flags

Eighth grade science teacher Terance Henkle said students will take the MAP test again next month. It was given districtwide in September.

Students take the exam online during two class periods. He said the data can provide important flags, particularly for quiet students who are struggling.

Time with students in small groups is also valuable, he added.

"Some kids might not express, 'I don't understand this', but when you start working in a small group you engage the kids more," he said.

The Targets

Below are the percentage of sixth, seventh and eighth graders at Fitch Middle School who demonstrated proficiency or better in reading and math on the Connecticut Mastery Tests.  The federal goal for 2011 was 89 percent in reading and 91 percent in math.