By Kerri Pepoy,Staff Writer

PARIS – Schools in SAD 17 are paralleling statewide trends in reading, writing, math and science scores while making adequate progress in meeting the standards established under the federal No Child Left Behind Act, district officials said Tuesday.

“The totality of data from the Maine Educational Assessment tests indicates positive trends, especially at grade 4 math over the last four years,” said Kathy Elkins, SAD 17 director of curriculum. “Overall, the district parallels state trends and according to NCLB, we have made adequate yearly progress in all of our schools except math at the middle school.”

At the district’s Board of Directors’ meeting Monday, Elkins presented scaled MEA test scores for fourth-, eighth-, and 11th-graders in the subjects of reading, writing, math and science. The scores represented tests administered to students last March, as well as in the previous three years.

Reading scores for all three grades remained steady over four years, and there were individual elementary schools that posted gains this year in reading. They included Hebron, which posted an 8-point increase, and Fox/Madison, which posted a 4-point increase.

Writing and science scores also were steady over four years in all three grades. Math scores rose by seven points over the last four years in grade 4, while remaining steady in grades 8 and 11. Elkins said the scores in SAD 17 parallel the trends in scores in Maine’s public schools.

All SAD 17 schools met the federal “adequate yearly progress” standard under No Child Left Behind, with the exception of math at Oxford Hills Middle School.

Under the No Child Left Behind Act, which was signed into law by President Bush in January 2002, “adequate yearly progress” refers to the growth needed in the proportion of students who achieve state benchmarks of academic proficiency.

Eighteen percent of students at Oxford Hills Middle School achieved the state benchmark in math; the federal standard is 22 percent.

Elkins said instructors are taking steps to address the shortfall. “We are in our second year of implementing a National Science Foundation math program to help increase student achievement at that level,” she said.

“I think it’s important to be realistic about this data and use it to improve our instruction,” she said.