New England Common Assessment Program (NECAP)

Test Results Released

The results of the Fall 2006 New England Common Assessment Program (NECAP) and the 2005-2006 NH-Alternative assessments were released today by Commissioner of Education Lyonel Tracy. This is the second year that New Hampshire 's third through eighth grade students have taken the NECAP. This data provides a comprehensive view of performance in mathematics, reading, and writing across these grade levels, providing the opportunity to analyze data at specific grade levels as well as from grade to grade.

Annual testing aligns with New Hampshire 's Follow The Child initiative which emphasizes personalized learning, timely interventions, and following each child's progress over time. Commissioner Tracy stated that, "analysis at the DOE is deeper and more meaningful than it has ever been. Now, because of annual testing we can look at how this year's fourth graders compare to last year's fourth graders or how these same students performed last year in grade three. We are in a much better to place to Follow The Child by using this data from year to year."

Preliminary analysis of this new data indicates that New Hampshire 's students showed improvement. The percentage of students proficient or better at every grade level in both mathematics and reading showed an increase. An examination of average scale scores shows that in ten out of twelve grade level tests, the average scale score for students improved. In the other two grade levels they remained the same. New Hampshire also tests writing in grades five and eight. In both grades the average scale scores improved. (see chart: NH NECAP Results, 2006-2007 and 2005-2006)

When the same group of students is followed from grade to grade, the percent of students proficient or better increased in three out of five cases in mathematics and four out of five in reading. For example, 63% of last year's fifth graders were proficient or above in mathematics and this year, as sixth graders, 67% were proficient or above. That same group moved from 67% to 72% proficient in reading. (see chart: NECAP Cohort Comparison)

Over the next few weeks, schools and districts will be digging into their own data paying particular attention to the growth of individual students and groups of students. Administrators, local school improvement teams, and teachers can also use these results to measure the effectiveness of program changes and instructional strategies they have implemented based on previous results and analyses.

There are four achievement levels of student performance on the NECAP tests. These levels describe a student's proficiency on the content and skills taught in the previous grade. Performance at Proficient (level 3) or Proficient with Distinction (level 4) indicates that the student has a level of proficiency necessary to begin working successfully on current grade content and skills. Performance at Partially Proficient (level 2) or Substantially Below Proficient (level 1) suggests that additional instruction and student practice is needed on the previous grade's content and skills. Schools must give special attention to the needs of students scoring at the lowest two levels.

NECAP is a collaborative partnership among New Hampshire , Vermont , and Rhode Island , established in response to the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) which requires that all states annually measure achievement of students in grades 3-8, and in one high school grade. This fall, pilot tests were administered in grade 11 in mathematics, reading and writing. No results are available from the pilot tests. Pilot tests of the NECAP Science Assessment are scheduled for May 2007, in grades 4, 8, & 11. During school year 07-08, all NCLB required components of the NECAP will be operational. "Because the NECAP is a tri-state collaborative it is a great opportunity to do state to state comparisons and share what is working. While two years of data may not be enough to draw meaningful conclusions, it is enough to raise meaningful questions," said Tracy.

The NECAP is only one measure of academic progress. It is important to note that a single annual assessment is not a sufficient way of measuring overall student success. Schools must be accountable for the growth of each child personally, physically, socially, and academically. In evaluating the success of students and schools, it is essential that community leaders, parents and educators consider multiple forms of assessment, community involvement, attendance and graduation rates, the number of children pursuing further education after high school, school safety, discipline records, and other relevant information.

More information can be found on the Department's website at www.ed.state.nh.us/necap.