TJ hopes to maintain the rising trend in CSAP scores.
Artwork by Mia Nogueira
Since last year, TJ has made many improvements in CSAP scores. With advancing scores in Reading, Writing, and Science, TJ Spartans have shown moderate progress.
“What it really comes down to is that our student achievement in Reading, Science, and Writing, is meeting expectations. This means our growth is okay,” said Assistant Principal Scott Lessard. In Reading, the school has attained a student average of 93.20% at Partially Proficient or above. This exceeds the state target of 89.3% of students at Partially Proficient or above.
Along with improvements in reading, TJ has also made noteworthy progress in Science. “We’ve done very well in 10th grade science,” said Principal Sandra Just. “Science is definitely TJ’s biggest standout.” TJ also demonstrates success in CSAP participation, with 97.05% of students participating, exceeding the expected participation rate of 95%.
However, TJ is presently below expectations in math. “We demonstrated growth in all the areas but math,” said Lessard. In math, the school is at a student average of 50.93% at partially proficient or above. This falls short of the state target of 73.50%. “We obviously need to focus on more growth in all four of the areas,” asserted Lessard.
Just also displays high expectations towards this year’s CSAP scores. “Our ideal goal is for there to be an overall student growth [in scores] of 10% in all subjects. It’s a lofty goal, but it’s official,” said Just.
According to Just, CSAP is very significant in a student’s success. “CSAP is important to someone’s future because it is a measurement of student growth,” she said.
Along with evaluating the individual growth of students, Just also believes that CSAP evaluates the success of TJ. “CSAP is pretty much the school’s report card. It measures our success, and our performance,” said Just.
CSAP’s significance towards the future of TJ is also strongly acknowledged by Lessard. “There’s a few things that make CSAP important in a nutshell. The main thing is the SPF [School Performance Framework]. On the SPF, we have to score 50% or above in all the categories,” said Lessard.
Some of the categories on the SPF include Student Progress Over Time-Growth, Student Engagement, Student Demand, and Parent & Community Engagement. Presently, TJ’s overall school performance on the SPF is at 41% out of a projected 50%.
With high hopes for future CSAP scores, Just believes that there are several measures students can take to help CSAP scores improve even further. “Students can focus in class, ask for help when they need it, and definitely be prepared,” said Just.
With hopes of maintaining the ascent of CSAP scores, along with the need to improve scores in math considerably, the TJ faculty shows very high expectations for the upcoming year in CSAP.
