Published: July 10, 2008 09:56 am      

St. Michael School in Radom exceeds national academic growth rate

Staff Report

A study conducted by the Educational Research Center of America — a nonprofit student marketing group — has revealed the students at St. Michael School in Radom have exceeded the national academic growth rate over a four-year period.

The areas studied include reading, language and mathematics. According to information from the school, the study was unique in that it tracked assessment results for all students from the class of 2008 who had attended the school since 2003. Over 38 students were followed from grades three through seven. The study was based on current year and historical student data from the annual standardized achievement test administered each fall in grades two through eight in the Diocese of Belleville.

In former years, the Terra Nova test was used, but during the 2007-2008 school year, the Iowa Basic Skills and Cognitive Ability tests were given to students. Both tests are published and monitored by the Riverside Publishing Co. and are used by both public and private schools throughout the U.S.

“Unlike most assessment studies that release current year results only, this matched student research allows educators, parents and students to see the changes in achievement which took place over time,” information from the school states. “It also allows the entire educational community to identify and measure the value-added benefits of the local instructional program.”

In reading, students in grades five through eight achieved 19 to 30 percentage points above the national average. In math, the students were 15 to 32 percentage points higher. In language, the students tested at 28 to 42 percent higher than the national average, and in science, the students were scored at 8 to 46 points higher.

Students in grades three through eight scored above the normal curve equivalent in reading, with some grades 20 points higher. According to the school, students who scored below average in ability “still demonstrated a higher than national average growth.”