Schools

Area Schools Prep Kids For CMTs And CAPTs With Drills, Food, And Promise Of Rewards

Madison Sticks To Tried And True Basics, Surrounding Towns Supplementing Those With Some New Tactics

By Carolyn Milazzo

The note went out to Madison parents recently, gently reminding them to give their kids a good breakfast and get them to bed early during the Connecticut Mastery Test and the Connecticut Academic Performance Test beginning Tuesday.

But with mounting pressure to meet state-mandated goals, some shoreline school districts are offering students extra incentives this year, providing everything from free breakfasts and snacks to raffle prizes and passes to sleep in or hand in homework late.

Find out what's happening in Madisonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“There are high stakes out there and every year we try to figure out how to make it more of a positive experience,” Clinton Assistant Superintendent of Schools Maryann O’Donnell said. “For a lot of our kids, a little bit of extra incentive is a great motivator. You’d be amazed at the kinds of things that motivate kids. We want to show them that we appreciate their hard work and the good job they’ve done.”

Madison sticking with tried and true basics

Find out what's happening in Madisonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Madison Assistant Superintendent Anita Rutlin said the school district reminds parents to give their kids healthy breakfasts and come to school well-rested, but doesn’t offer other incentives. While some school districts have motivational speakers, yoga classes, exercises to stimulate the brain or strolls outside school before the CMTs and CAPTs, Rutlin said Madison sticks to the basics. 

“We give them practice tests and give them test-taking skills so they’re not nervous, but this is part of our routine,” Rutlin said. “Parents in Madison want their children to learn and have them ready for school every day. It’s really wonderful for us.”

But area school officials say they are eager to try new ways to motivate students throughout the two-week testing period, particularly because the bar has been raised this year for schools to comply with “at or above proficiency” rates in reading and math.

This year, 89 percent of students must be proficient in reading and 91 percent of students must be proficient in math on the CMTs _ about 10 percent higher than the 2008-09 school year. Similar scores are expected for CAPT _ 91 percent proficient in reading and 90 percent in math.

Clinton 10th graders receiving free breakfast

Clinton 10th graders are receiving free breakfast for the first time this year during CAPT in hopes of raising Morgan High School students’ test performance, which O’Donnell concedes has room for improvement. School officials decided to offer breakfast because teen-agers often skip it and research shows students who eat a nutritious breakfast score higher on tests.

In addition to free breakfast, Clinton allows Morgan juinors who scored well on last year’s CAPT to come in at 9:30 a.m. during this year’s CAPT period, two hours later than the usual 7:30 a.m. start time. Clinton middle-schoolers who score well on the CMTs are given recognition certificates as well as free snack passes at lunch.

Though Guilford has provided free breakfasts during CAPT testing for several years, it will begin providing snacks and other incentives to 7th and 8th graders at Elizabeth Adams Middle School for the first time this year. Each day during the CMTs, students will receive water and a healthy snack, such as fruit donated by Big Y in Guilford. Students who show diligence by taking their time, writing neatly and checking their work will receive a raffle ticket each day, which can be entered for a gift basket drawing or used for a late homework pass.

Guilford giving incentives to help deal with stress and disruption

Adams Principal Katherine Walker said it makes sense to give incentives to the kids while CMTs are taking place because they put a lot of stress on administrators, teachers and students and disrupt regular scheduling. 

“I think students will be happier this year,”  she said. “Ten days of testing is a long time and we want them to work hard throughout the testing period. We feel that this recognition program will get some kids excited and motivated.”

Bernie Brennan, an Adams algebra teacher who came up with the idea of raffle tickets and prizes, said the incentive program is an outgrowth of a national push for teachers to reward positive behavior instead of focusing on bad behavior. 

“There are always some kids who are highly academically motivated, but there are also those kids who go through the test once and in two seconds they’re done,” he said. “We hope that this program turns that minimum effort into a maximum one.”


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here