Carly Risom
Reporter
The Connecticut Academic Performance Test (CAPT) is the standardized testing that sophomores have been taking since the early nineties. The tests are state-based exams used to measure the performance of Connecticut students. “The exams are used to test student proficiency across the state,” Principal Dr. Bryan Luizzi said. “They are brought in to align high school curriculums with state standards.”
Starting in 2015, there will be a new test introduced to evaluate the student body as a substitute for the current CAPT exam. According to Dr. Luizzi, sophomores are going to take a more customized test, called Smarter Balanced. This test will cater to the students’ current curriculums and will generate more personalized questions.
The form of the CAPT and Smarter Balanced exams will differ: Smarter Balanced is an online assessment, while CAPT is a traditional paper exam. “The Smarter Balanced test is not a one-shot thing,” Dr. Luizzi said. “It would be issued periodically throughout the year, and would align with the curriculum for sophomores. That way, students will be given standardized tests that actually apply to what they’re learning at the time.”
Some students feel that the transition from paper to online tests will present challenges. “I would rather take paper tests, which people have taken in the past, compared to online tests,” freshman Lindsay Miller said. “I think paper tests are better because to me computers are distracting, whereas if you were to take the test on paper there are no distractions.”
Junior Spencer Lambdin feels similarly. “I think I would have done worse if the test was electronic, because that often leads to a lesser degree of focus,” he said. Having taken the CAPT last year, Spencer found that it was an opportunity to relax. “Even as a sophomore I viewed them as a bit of a break from the conventional school week,” he said. “CAPT week is a huge time to recharge.”
Beside the format of the exam, the content will also be different in comparison to what students have been tested on in the past. “It will only be a language arts and mathematics test,” Assistant Principal Dr. Veronica LeDuc said. “It won’t be on science, per se.”
Despite the subject change, Dr. LeDuc is still positive about the quality of the test. “I think it’ll be a really good assessment, as it will be more content related, as opposed to skill related,” she said. “But just like the CAPT, it will provide us with good data for instruction and curricular purposes.”
Because the test will be taken online, testing locations will change. Dr. LeDuc is unsure where the exams will be administered due to the limited amount of computer labs in the building. According to Dr. LeDuc, the tests could possibly be taken on COWs (Computers on Wheels) in classrooms, but exact locations will be determined once the testing window is in place.
The administration faces another predicament, whether or not juniors instead of sophomores will be the ones to take the new test. “It appears Smarter Balanced will be for eleventh graders, but we don’t have details on that transition,” Dr. LeDuc said. “We don’t have the confirmation yet that class of 2016 could be taking both the CAPT their sophomore year and Smarter Balanced their junior year,” she said.
According to Dr. Luizzi, the standardized CAPT test is necessary for teachers to adjust what they teach and evaluate how to cater to the academic needs of students. The Smarter Balanced testing may be the next step towards doing so, as well as aligning state high school curriculums as a whole. “It’s time for a new evolution of testing,” Dr. Luizzi said. “I think we should take advantage of the new technology we have, in order to get more relevant results to help students.”
