Assessment Results of the Terra Nova Tests for School Year 2008-2009

St. Bernadette School administers the Terra Nova Achievement Test annually to students in the second through seventh grades to assess their mastery of the Diocese of Arlington curriculum in reading comprehension, vocabulary, spelling, language mechanics and composition, mathematical reasoning and computation. Students in fourth and sixth grade are also given assessments in science and social studies. The Terra Nova tests compare individual student proficiency in these areas with other students in the same grade across the nation by norm-referencing the results and reporting scores as percentile ranks. Criterion-referenced scores are also reported to assist teachers in defining strengths and weaknesses in their programs within the Diocesan curriculum.

The St. Bernadette scores demonstrate a strong upward trend as students advance from second to seventh grade in both mathematics and reading. Mathematics scores of the current eighth graders increased to the 85th percentile in 2009 from the 65th percentile in 2005, and reading scores improved to the 90th percentile in 2009 from the 73rd percentile in 2005. Similar trends are evident for current seventh graders whose mathematics scores rose from the 62nd percentile to the 80th percentile. The same is true for current sixth graders whose mathematics scores increased by 18 points between the second and fifth grades. Reading scores for this group increased by 6 points as they have advanced through the grade levels.
The scores also demonstrate significant improvements within the second, fifth, and seventh grade programs, where test scores increased to yearly highs of 76, 83, and 85 percentiles, respectively, in 2009. These 2009 scores were 5 to 14 points higher than scores for those same grades in past years. Reading scores in the seventh grade program rose from an already impressive 84th percentile to the 90th percentile over five years.

Terra Nova also reports scores in Normal Curve Equivalent (NCE) units to exhibit how far above or below the norm group St. Bernadette students scored. The difference between numbers national and local numbers is considered educationally significant when the NCE difference is (+) or (-) 7 or more. "Significantly above average" is defined as + 7 or more NCE units above the national norm group. St. Bernadette students scored significantly above average in 332 out of 360 groups. For example, the "Lowest Achieving Students" scored a +30 in Reading in seventh grade, +27 in sixth grade, +25 in fifth grade, +23 in fourth grade, +23 in third grade, +17 in second grade. St. Bernadette scored significantly above average in reading in 26 out of 30 groups. For mathematics, St. Bernadette scored significantly above average in 28 out of 30 groups, with the "Lowest Achieving Students" scoring as high as +28 in sixth grade and + 27 in seventh grade. These scores are highlighted to show that St. Bernadette School is closing the learning gap between high and low achievers.

Test scores in the primary grades are lower than those in the middle school, due in large part to the fact that students in the primary grades represent the largest percentage of non-English speaking families in the school. Moreover, teachers at St. Bernadette do not "teach to the test" or repeatedly use tests that are similar to the Terra Nova when assessing student performance throughout the year. Instead, teachers are directed to teach the curriculum and to use a variety of methods to assess student performance. These efforts in the primary grades have resulted in high levels of mastery at the middle school level.

Using Assessment Results:

Every teacher at St. Bernadette uses the criterion-referenced Terra Nova results to develop two data-driven professional goals for the following year. The process begins in June, when the Principal distributes the class 2010.