Statewide assessment results for the 2021-22 school year reinforce the continuing need to provide additional supports and learning time to students in response to COVID-19 school building closures.

For English language arts, 42 percent of students in grades 3-8 scored at or above their grade’s proficiency level. In mathematics, 30 percent of students in grades 3-8 scored at or above their grade’s proficiency level. Although the percentage of students who scored proficient is higher than in 2020-21, making a direct comparison is not appropriate because of lower participation rates in 2020-21 due to COVID-19.

“Providing educational opportunities this summer has been a priority because we know students are continuing to recover from pandemic-related unfinished learning,” Secretary of Education Mark Holodick said. “Recovery doesn’t happen overnight, and our educators are committed to continuing to meet students where they are to provide them the supports and learning time they need to succeed.  Federal Elementary and Secondary Emergency Relief funds (ESSER II and ESSER III) will allow for our schools and districts to use targeted interventions and institute system changes that address the needs of all students, especially those kids who need it most.”

For high school statewide assessment, Delaware uses the SAT, administered during the school day, generally in students’ 11^th grade year. In 2022, Delaware moved from a paper and pencil exam to an online assessment (grade 3-8 assessments previously were online). Statewide, 47 percent of students scored proficient or higher in the reading test, 24 percent in math and 38 percent on the essay portion.

In science, Delaware tests in grades 5, 8 and high school biology. The 2021-22 scores show 21 percent of fifth graders, 17 percent of eighth graders and 26 percent of high school biology students scoring proficient or higher.

Social studies is assessed in grades 4, 7 and 11. Statewide for 2021-22, 32 percent of fourth graders, 29 percent of seventh graders and 24 percent of 11^th graders scored at or above the proficient level.

Delaware administers an alternative assessment for students with significant cognitive disabilities. The state moved to a new assessment model in 2022. Find more information on this assessment as well as the ACCESS English language proficiency assessment here.

Families received their student reports in the mail last month, providing valuable information on their children’s learning progress. Educators received the results a few weeks after the students tested.

 “These assessment results help everyone from the classroom educator to policymakers better understand student learning and needs, and they will provide important guidance to us as we plan how to best support our students in the new school year,” Holodick said.

Find full results, including demographic and district/charter information, here.

The Delaware Department of Education today released statewide assessment results for the 2020-21 school year, cautioning that due to low participation rates the results do not allow for comparison to previous test administrations.

 

“The 2020-21 school year was different from any other since many of our students were learning remotely for part or all of the academic year. Although assessment opportunities were available to all students, we saw significantly fewer students take the assessment,” Secretary of Education Susan Bunting said. “While direct comparisons with assessment data from previous years may not be appropriate because of this, the data provides an important temperature check that allows our schools to better track and address both short- and long-term learning needs.”

 

Although the U.S. Department of Education waived student assessment requirements in the 2019-2020 academic year due to COVID-19 school building closures that spring, Delaware was required to administer all tests for the 2020-21 academic year.

 

Statewide, participation was at 60 percent for the state’s English language arts and mathematics assessments for grades 3-8 while about 71 percent of eligible students took the SAT, the state’s high school federal accountability test. For the state’s social studies and science exams, 49 percent of eligible students participated. The state also administers an alternative assessment for students with significant cognitive disabilities. The overall participation was 58 percent on the alt assessment.

 

For those students who did participate, 41 percent scored at the proficiency level on the 3-8 ELA test while 26 percent did so in mathematics. On the SAT, 49 percent scored at proficient on evidenced-based reading and writing with 28 percent doing so on the math portion of the test and 44 percent on the essay section. Proficiency on the science assessment was 24 percent and 30 percent on the social studies assessment. For the alt assessment, the proficiency rates were 26 percent for ELA, 21 percent for math and 13 percent for science.

 

Families received their student reports in the mail last month, providing valuable information on their children’s learning progress. Educators received the results a few weeks after the students tested.

 

“Educators and school-based staff have faced and risen to meet unprecedented challenges in the past year. The assessment results will be used to help all of us educators better understand the needs of our students so we can more effectively support them,” Bunting said.

 

Find full results, including demographic and district/charter information, here.

 

Media contact: Alison May, alison.may@doe.k12.de.us, 302-735-4006

DOVER – The results are in, and two artists have won top honors in Delaware’s Waterfowl Stamp and Trout Stamp art contests. A painting of an American wigeon and a chocolate Labrador retriever by Guy Crittenden of Richmond, Va., will grace the 2020/21 Delaware Waterfowl Stamp. A painting of a rainbow trout by Jeffrey Klinefelter of Etna Green, Ind., will adorn the 2020 Delaware Trout Stamp. Both contests are sponsored by the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control’s Division of Fish & Wildlife.

The annual stamp art competition, held April 4 at the Dover Public Library, drew 19 entries for the 2020/21 Waterfowl Stamp and 11 entries for the 2020 Trout Stamp. The Waterfowl Stamp contest specified that submitted artwork must include an American wigeon and a chocolate Labrador retriever. Trout Stamp artwork entries could be of a rainbow, brown, or brook trout.

As the 2020/21 Delaware Waterfowl Stamp winner, Guy Crittenden receives a $2,500 prize and 150 artist’s proofs of the limited edition print series of his first-place entry. A naturalist with an interest in ornithology, Crittenden began drawing and painting at an early age based on his experiences with nature. He has won the Virginia Migratory Waterfowl Conservation Stamp competition seven times, including the 2019/20 contest in March. This is his first Delaware Waterfowl Stamp win. In addition to Delaware and Virginia, Crittenden has won waterfowl stamp contests in nine other states. The artist also owns a commercial photography and video production company in Richmond, Va.

As the 2020 Delaware Trout Stamp winner, Jeffrey Klinefelter receives a $250 prize and retains the rights to reproduce and sell prints of the stamp artwork. After developing an interest in drawing and painting at a young age, Klinefelter graduated from Indiana University’s Herron School of Art. His interest in wildlife art came a few years later when he entered the Federal Duck Stamp and Indiana Duck Stamp contests. Since then, he has won numerous stamp contests, including three Delaware Waterfowl Stamp contests and five Delaware Trout Stamp contests. He has also won the 2016/17 Ohio Wetland Habitat Stamp competition and the 2015 Connecticut Duck Stamp contest.

Other winners were:

• 2020/21 Waterfowl Stamp: Second place, Jeffrey Klinefelter, Etna Green, Ind.; Third place, Mark Thone, Shakopee, Minn.; Honorable mentions: Scott Calpino, Bernville, Pa.; Caleb Metrich, Lake Tomahawk, Wis.; and Karin Snoots, Harbeson, Del.
• 2020 Trout Stamp: Second place, Eric Jablonowski, Suwanee, Ga., rainbow trout; Third place, Ryan Rickaby, Green Bay, Wis., brown trout. Honorable mentions: Micah Hanson, St. Charles, Minn., brown trout; Jeffrey Klinefelter, Etna Green, Ind., brown trout; and Ryan Peterson, Jackson, Wyo., brown trout.

The winning 2020/21 Delaware Waterfowl Stamp will be available for purchase July 1, 2020, and the winning 2020 Delaware Trout Stamp will be available for purchase Jan. 1, 2020.

Waterfowl and Trout Stamp entries will be on display Monday, April 15 through Friday, April 26 in the Licensing Office at DNREC’s Richardson & Robbins Building, 89 Kings Highway, Dover, DE 19901. Hours are 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays. For more information, please call 302-739-9918.

The 2020/21 Waterfowl Stamp judges were: Nathan Hudson, member of the Advisory Council on Wildlife and Freshwater Fish; Raymond Harp, Delaware Ducks Unlimited representative;
Ken Reynolds, retired wildlife professional; Jim Hall, hunter and cultural historian; and Justyn Foth, wildlife biologist.

The 2020 Trout Stamp judges were: Cathy Martin, retired fisheries professional; Ian Park, fisheries biologist; Roy Miller, angler; Noel Kuhrt, art collector and angler; and Capt. Nick Couch, Fish & Wildlife Natural Resources Police.

The Division of Fish & Wildlife, in partnership with Ducks Unlimited, started the Delaware Waterfowl Stamp (formerly known as the Delaware Duck Stamp) and print program in 1980 to raise funds for waterfowl conservation, including acquiring and improving wetland habitats vital to the survival of migratory waterfowl. To date, more than $3 million has been raised. A Delaware Waterfowl Stamp and hunting license are required by most waterfowl hunters.

The Division of Fish & Wildlife began requiring trout stamps for anglers in the 1950s, and a trout stamp and a general fishing license are required by most anglers to fish in designated trout waters during certain seasons, with the funds from the sale of the stamps used to purchase trout to stock in two downstate ponds and selected streams in northern New Castle County.

Delaware hunting and fishing licenses, as well as Waterfowl Stamps and Trout Stamps, are sold online, at the licensing desk in DNREC’s Richardson & Robbins Building, 89 Kings Highway, Dover, DE 19901, and by license agents statewide. To find a participating agent, or to purchase licenses or stamps online, visit Delaware Licenses. For additional information on Delaware hunting and fishing licenses, call 302-739-9918.

For more information on Delaware’s Waterfowl and Trout Stamp art competitions, please call DNREC’s Division of Fish & Wildlife at 302-739-9918, or visit Delaware Waterfowl Stamp and Delaware Trout Stamp.

Follow the Division of Fish & Wildlife on Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/DelawareFishWildlife.

Contact: Joanna Wilson, DNREC Public Affairs, 302-739-9902.

Vol. 49, No. 84

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Smarter Balanced scores set new baseline for students’ progress toward college and career readiness

Statewide assessment results released today provide a new baseline for how Delaware students are performing in English language arts and mathematics. The 2015 Smarter Balanced Assessment results are the first ever scores for the test, which is aligned with the Common Core – Delaware’s new, higher, academic standards. By focusing on skills most important for students to succeed in college and the workplace, the results provide teachers and families with a snapshot of children’s progress, helping identify school and student strengths, as well as areas in which they need support.

Statewide, more than half of students in third through eighth grades and in grade 11 were “proficient’ or better in English. In math, almost 39 percent were statewide. Delaware students outperformed estimates – based on a 2014 national field test — in both subjects for every grade with the exception of 11^th grade math.

More than four million students took the field test that was used to set expectations for how students would perform when Smarter Balanced was first offered last spring. Following that test, educators, school leaders, higher education faculty, parents and others worked together to develop benchmarks for students to reach different achievement levels (one through four), with students scoring 3 or 4 considered “proficient.”

At the time, then-Smarter Balanced Executive Director Joe Willhoft noted: “Because the new content standards set higher expectations for students and the new tests are designed to assess student performance against those higher standards, the bar has been raised. It’s not surprising that fewer students could score at Level 3 or higher. However, over time the performance of students will improve.”

Grade-level results in English language arts/literacy ranged from a high of 55.5 percent scoring proficient or higher in fifth grade to a low of 48.5 percent in sixth grade. In math, the grade-level results ranged from a high of 53.1 percent in third grade to a low of 23.3 percent in grade 11.

“The Smarter Assessment is harder, and different, from any of our past state assessments. It tests more skills than we’ve ever tested before and does so more rigorously,” Gov. Jack Markell said. “We made this change because these are the skills our children will need to succeed in the rest of their careers and we need to provide them with as much help and support as we can while they are still in our care.

“As we all expected, the overall results of this more rigorous assessment show that we still have a lot of work to do to prepare all of our students for college and careers, but we know our schools continue to make progress, and we are pleased that the results are better than anticipated by the national test.” he said.

As a governing state in the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium, Delaware partnered with other states to develop the Smarter Balanced Assessment System. Delaware educators have been integral to many aspects of the new assessment system, including question development, standard setting, report development and the creation of professional learning resources for teachers. In spring 2014, educators and students across Delaware participated in the successful national field test of new assessment items and the accompanying technology.

Today’s release included aggregate and grade-level results for the two subjects at the state, district and school levels. Final results, which also will include additional analysis looking at scores by student subgroup, will be released on Thursday, September 17, in conjunction with the State Board of Education meeting.

Statewide English Language Arts Projected vs Actual Proficiency

Note: “Projected” is based on the national field test conducted in Spring 2014. “Actual DE” are the results from Delaware students on the 2015 Smarter assessment.

Statewide Mathematics Projected vs Actual Proficiency

Note: “Projected” is based on the national field test conducted in spring 2014. “Actual DE” are the results from Delaware students on the 2015 Smarter Balanced assessment.

About Smarter Balanced

The Smarter Balanced results measure Delaware students’ progress toward the academic goals laid out in the Common Core State Standards, which were designed to ensure students have the skills and knowledge they need in jobs and college. The standards set learning expectations for what students should know or what skills they should master at the completion of each grade level. Individual districts determine their own curricula and decide how those skills and knowledge are best taught.

Based on the first administration of a completely new state assessment that is aligned to new, more rigorous standards, the 2015 Smarter results represent a new baseline for Delaware students’ performance in English language arts/literacy and mathematics.

The new Smarter exams test different content and skills than the old exams (Delaware Comprehensive Assessment System or DCAS) tested so the scores cannot be compared directly. Recognizing this transition, the state is delaying the use of the results for teacher evaluations for the next two years. As expected, the results look different from those under the old test. This does not mean that students are learning less. Rather, it reflects that the bar has been set higher.

The new Smarter test asks students to demonstrate and apply their knowledge and skills in areas such as critical thinking, analytical writing, and problem solving.

“The results reflect a change in expectations for what students should know and be able to do, not a change in their abilities,” Secretary of Education Mark Murphy said.

While the transition to Common Core required some shifts in ELA, particularly regarding the use of more complex texts and in the areas of research and writing, the biggest changes from Delaware’s previous standards were in mathematics. Changes included the scope and sequence of material as well as procedural methodology. Because of the extent of shifts needed, the transition has been more significant in mathematics compared to ELA in many classrooms.

Over the past few years, the department has provided professional learning to thousands of educators across the state to support this transition, and in the coming year, the state will continue to offer quality professional learning opportunities for educators, particularly those who teach mathematics.  The state also will offer competitive incentive grants for districts and charters to further their educators’ professional learning around Common Core. And the state is looking at other innovative professional learning opportunities to strengthen supports for Delaware’s math educators.

Value of the assessment results

While no single test can give a complete picture of achievement, annual assessments can provide important information about student progress and areas for improvement, especially when combined with student grades and teacher reports.

Educators use the assessment data in many ways. The scores are used to examine how well students are doing in districts, schools, grades and individual classrooms. Importantly, districts use this data to investigate how aligned their curriculum is to the standards—what children should know and be able to do in each grade. They also use it to make decisions about where to focus professional learning for their educators. Principals can use this information to help understand if certain grades or classrooms are doing especially well and should be models—or identify where teachers or students might need extra professional development or support. Teachers can use the information about their current students to see if extra focus is warranted in a specific skill area.

“This is important data for our schools as a whole. It gives us a baseline so that our educators can use the results to identify students’ strengths and needs to be addressed this year. It also gives us important information about where curricula is well aligned to the standards or where we need to adjust it this year,” Colonial School District Superintendent Dusty Blakey said.

Indian River Superintendent Susan Bunting agreed.

“Our teachers will be digging into these data in the coming weeks as they meet with their peers in professional learning communities, looking for trends that show how their classes and schools can adjust instruction to better prepare students with the skills they need,” she said.

New Castle County Vo-Tech Superintendent Vicki Gehrt, president of the Delaware Chief School Officers’ Association, said the results establish a new baseline that “enables all of us to know where our students stand regarding their Smarter score.

“Whether they want to go to college or straight into the workplace, students need to be able to think critically and solve complex problems,” she said.  “We must collectively stand committed to providing our teachers the necessary professional development and resources to further strengthen their instructional delivery, ensuring that our students have the skills to empower their future success.”

Nationally, states are in various stages of score reporting. In time, scores of all states using the assessment will be aggregated and provide more context for student performance across the country.

Find results by district and school here.

For more information about the new assessments, families should visit www.DelExcels.org.

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Wilmington DE – The June 4th Colonial School District Referendum passes. The unofficial results are:

• For the tax increase:  3,005

• Against the tax increase: 2,938

Detailed results will be posted at http://electionsncc.delaware.gov/Colonial/2013/co_ref13a.shtml as soon as possible.

The Board of Elections for New Castle County will certify the results of the referendum at its meeting at 7 p.m. on June 6, 2013.

Contact: Anthony Albence or Howard Sholl. Phone: (302) 577-3464.