The Valley Breeze

In NECAP improvement race, CHS juniors top LHS

By PATRICIA A. RUSSELL, Valley Breeze Staff Writer

CUMBERLAND - It was last fall when Lincoln High School principal Kevin McNamara called Dorothy "Dee" Gould, principal at Cumberland High School, and suggested the schools engage in a friendly competition.

Which of the high schools would show the greatest improvement on the New England Common Assessment, or NECAP, tests?

"We've always been athletic rivals and this was a great opportunity to tap into the rivalry that's been going on at the two high schools for academics," said McNamara.

"He threw down the gauntlet and we accepted the challenge," said Gould.

Students at the schools were made aware of the competition during assemblies at their respective schools and were willing participants.

Tests are given to juniors in the fall and results known in the spring.

When the results were tallied, Cumberland had won.

McNamara made a trip to Cumberland High School on June 9.

The Lincoln principal himself made an announcement over the Cumberland public address system. He congratulated the Cumberland students and acknowledged that they had scored the biggest gains in percentage points.

The reaction of Cumberland's students was overwhelming. "We could hear them yelling from the office. It was a really nice moment," McNamara said.

As the competition rules specified, the losing principal - that would be McNamara - wore the rival's school T-shirt all day.

So, McNamara, who started out the day wearing a blue shirt with yellow tie, donned the CHS shirt presented to him and wore it for the remainder of the day back in Lincoln.

"He was a good sport about it all," said Gould, who added that Cumberland's 400 or so juniors did "very well" on the tests - "approximately 14 to 15 points higher than the previous year," she said.

McNamara explained to unhappy LHS students that the school would get another shot to reclaim the title next fall. A trophy cup will be given to the school that wins.

McNamara also told students that while Cumberland High School scored the bigger increase in percentage points on the NECAP tests, Lincoln High School had the higher test scores.

McNamara said that, "with such high stakes, it is incumbent on schools to take every tack we can to drive interest" in tests and grades.

The NECAP test represents a collaboration of the departments of education in Rhode Island, New Hampshire and Vermont. In October, tests are given to students in grades 3 to 8 and 11, in mathematics and reading. Writing tests are given to grades 5, 8 and 11 at the same time. The tests show how students and schools are doing.

* The results of last fall's junior class testing, from the School Report Card section of the R.I. Department of Education's Web site, shows Cumberland High School juniors scored 91.1 in English language arts compared to 85.5 the previous year, and Lincoln High School juniors scored 92.3 compared to 90.0 the previous year.

In mathematics, CHS scored 75.3, up from 66.4 the previous year; and LHS scored 76.8 compared to 73.2 last year.

In both categories, although Lincoln High scores were higher, the percentage of improvement over last year's scores went to CHS.

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