Bangor student test scores higher than state average

BANGOR – Despite a high percentage of economically disadvantaged students, Bangor School Department elementary and middle school pupils held their own when compared to their peers on test scores in reading, mathematics, science and writing.

That was among the key conclusions Bangor educators drew after reviewing results of the latest Maine Educational Assessment, given to pupils in grades three through eight.

Assistant Superintendent Betsy Webb called the Bangor School Department’s test scores “pretty impressive” in a presentation on the 2007 MEA results Thursday night for members of the school committee. She also compared this year’s results to those from last year.

The percentage of Bangor students who met or exceeded the state’s performance levels was higher than the statewide averages in all four of the content areas tested for all of the grades tested, Webb’s analysis showed.

Though reading scores at Fourteenth Street School and Fruit Street School slipped somewhat from 2006 to 2007, as did math scores at Mary Snow School, Bangor’s scores still were well above state averages, Webb said.

Bangor also made a good showing with regard to school attendance with levels in the mid- to high 90-percent range, a level that was well above the 88-percent target set forth in the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

A look at eighth grade test scores shows that economic disadvantages are not holding Bangor students back.

At James F. Doughty School, nearly half – 46 percent – of the student population qualified for free or reduced price meals. At William S. Cohen School, 26 percent of the enrollment qualified for free and reduced meals. Bangor’s median household income for 2006 was $32,806.

Despite that, Bangor eighth graders held their own when compared to peers from wealthier communities, racking up an average scaled writing score of 842 compared to their peers from Falmouth, where students’ average writing score was 846.

Only 4 percent of the eighth graders in Falmouth, where last year’s median household income was $84,439, qualified for free or reduced meals.

Also in writing, Bangor eighth graders tied with their counterparts in Scarborough, where the average family income was $66,626 and 11 percent of the eighth graders were eligible for free or reduced meals.

Trends were similar for math, science and reading, Webb’s analysis shows.

“When you look at that those [economic] indicators, it’s pretty impressive,” Webb said.

“Certainly Bangor never used [economic disadvantages] as an indicator of the potential for academic excellence,” she said.

Paraphrasing committee member Martha Newman, who on Wednesday left the chairwoman post she had held for nearly 20 years, Webb said, “Bangor has never judged a student’s potential by the size of their home. … I think this certainly demonstrates that.”