Testing schedule pays off
NASHUA – Go figure: Fewer students were absent or tardy at the city’s two high schools Tuesday, when most students were asked to show up more than two hours later than normal.
Tuesday was the first day of a three-day revised schedule that is meant to help boost test scores.
Continuing today and Thursday, juniors are required to show up to school at the usual 7:20 a.m. starting time to take part in New England Common Assessment Program testing.
Juniors are the only high school grade that takes part in the test, which is currently going on statewide. Students in all other grades are being asked not to arrive at school until later in the morning, at 9:35.
Classes begin for all students at 9:45 and school lets out at the normal time of 2:03 in the afternoon. Students still attend all four classes for the day, but the classes are shortened.
District administrators have touted the idea as giving the test-taking students fewer distractions by providing an empty building.
Whether the move actually helps improve test scores won’t be known until the state releases the results later in the school year. But the modified schedule has had an impact on attendance, according to enrollment data provided by the school district.
Last week, there were a combined 308 students absent at the two high schools each day on average. The schools have a combined enrollment of 4,793 students.
On Tuesday, there were 286 absences at the two high schools.
The number of students who were tardy dropped dramatically, from a daily combined average of 379 students between the schools last week to only 236 students Tuesday.
Part of that likely is due to the later starting time for most students, but there were also very few test-taking students who showed up late. Roughly 1,000 high school students are taking tests this week. On Tuesday, only 70 were absent and 10 were tardy.
“This was really the effect we were looking for,” said Brian Cochrane, director of assessment and accountability.
If the high attendance rate continues, significantly fewer students will have to miss class to make up the test, Cochrane said.
The math and reading portion of the tests are used by the state to determine whether schools are making annual progress, a requirement of No Child Left Behind.
Both South and North have been tagged as schools “in need of improvement.”
The district is running bus routes twice to accommodate juniors and all other students later in the morning.
Cochrane said he was at the high schools Tuesday morning and said the revised schedule was having the desired effect.
“The testing environments were very quiet, very orderly,” he said.
The district announced the revised schedule two weeks ago by sending notes home with students and using communication tools like ParentLink and the district’s e-mail newsletter.
Cochrane said he received a few phone calls from parents with questions about the schedule change.
Most parents waiting to pick up their children outside of Nashua High School South Tuesday afternoon said they didn’t have a problem with the changed schedule.
Michele Rezk, waiting to pick up her son, said she didn’t hear about the revised schedule until Monday night, when her son, who is not a junior, mentioned it to her.
Because of the late notice, Rezk said she is still working to make alternate arrangements to drive her son to school later this week. Rezk said because she is a stay-at-home mom, it’s not impacting her as much as it might other families.
Some parents might question whether the disruption to all students is worth improving test scores, she said. But she also said doing well on the tests is important.
“I could go both ways,” she said, when asked her opinion on the change to the schedule.
The district is also looking at ways to encourage students to take the test more seriously. Cochrane said he would be recommending to the school board that NECAP scores go on students’ academic transcripts.
Revised day Passes the Test
Fewer students were absent or tardy from Nashua’s high schools Tuesday, when schedules were changed by NECAP testing:
…………………………..Daily average……………Tuesday
…………………………..previous week………….Oct. 14
Absent………………………307……………………..286
Tardy………………………..378……………………..236
Attendance…………….4,793
Student turnout Tuesday at the city’s 2 high schools:
…………………………………….North………………..South
11th grade absent…………..50………………..…….20
11th grade tardy……………….3…………………..……7
Total absent………………….149…………………….137
Total tardy…………………….149……………………..87
Avg. total absent*………….146……………….….161
Avg. total tardy*…………….204……………….….174
Attendance…………………2,277………………..2,516
* Daily average from previous week
Source: Nashua School District
