Science Test Scores Up At EGHS, Cole

East Greenwich High School and Cole Middle School continue to gain ground in standardized science tests, according to 2012 NECAP results released last week by the R.I. Department of Education. Students in grades 4, 8, and 11 were tested last spring.

"We've gone up in all levels," said science department chair Nicholas Rath Monday. "The fact that we continue to improve makes me very, very happy." He noted East Greenwich middle and high school students had tested better every year since the test was first implemented four years ago.

"As our school improves, the ability to make large improvements gets more difficult," he said. East Greenwich High School juniors showed 62.6 percent proficiency in 2012, compared with 60.9 percent in 2011. Some high-performing schools showed larger gains, such as Narragansett High School, which tested at 41.7 percent proficiency in 2011 then jumped to 60.2 percent in 2012, and Barrington High School – which scored highest in the state – which went from 57 percent proficiency in 2011 to 68.5 percent in 2012.

Science scores still lag those for reading, writing and math. Rath said there are good reasons for this.

"Science is definitely a challenge because it’s so broad," he said. "We’re covering three years of content at the end of their junior year."

And, he added, "one quarter of the test is earth and space science and we just cover that in one quarter during ninth grade. There’s very little room in our curriculum to actively teach it."

That the science NECAPS are administered at the end of the school year – when students are more distracted – probably doesn't help either, he said.

The NECAPS are scored on a 1 through 4 rubric for proficiency. Rath said not only are test scores continuing to improve year-to-year, but there are also fewer students ending up with 1s and 2s (the lower scores).

At Cole Middle School, last year's eighth graders scored at 55.5 percent proficiency (getting a 3 or a 4), compared to 52.9 for eighth graders in 2011. Four other schools scored higher: Barrington with 70.8, Wickford with 68.8, Compass School (in South Kingstown) at 66.7, and Chariho at 56.2.

Like East Greenwich High School, Cole has only seen improvement over the past four years (11.6 percent).

Attached at right are school-specific scores and the district scorecard. Check back later today for a story about results of the science NECAP tests for fourth graders at Eldredge and Hanaford schools.