Kazoo School ranks in top 5 percent of schools using comprehensive testing program
Kazoo School ranks in top 5 percent of schools using comprehensive testing program
by Alison Black | Special to the Kalamazoo Gazette Monday August 31, 2009, 1:50 PM
KALAMAZOO -- Kazoo School students have done it again -- and then some.
For the second year in a row, the private, independent school ranked among the top 5 percent of more than 1,700 public and private schools administering Comprehensive Testing Program 4 assessments, results released last month showed.
What's more, fifth-graders scored in the top 3 percent nationally in all six achievement areas tested, including verbal ability, vocabulary, reading comprehension, writing mechanics, quantitative ability and mathematics.
Together, Kazoo fifth-, sixth- and seventh-graders who took the test during the 2008-09 school year placed in the top 5 percent of test takers in verbal ability, vocabulary and quantitative ability.
As a private institution, Kazoo School is not required to administer Michigan Educational Assessment Program (MEAP) tests.
Instead, the school chooses to administer the CTP4, developed by the Educational Records Bureau, as it allows for comparisons with other independent schools, as well as suburban public schools -- which tend to perform better on standardized tests than urban public counterparts -- across the country, Kazoo School Principal David Feldman said.
Another reason is the test's focus on critical thinking skills as examined through conceptual math and written portions, Feldman said.
"All the push to have strong test scores nationally often leads to emphasizing what students need to know for a test -- you're not really learning," Feldman said. "We're interested in how our students can apply what they've learned. It's application, not just answering the multiple choice questions."
Beyond meeting median, 97th percentile marks or above in all six areas, fifth-graders also met 99th percentile marks for vocabulary, quantitative ability and math.
Sixth-grade scores in quantitative ability and math increased nearly five percentage points from 2007-08, bringing median scores to the 99th and 98th percentile, respectively. They also scored in the 99th percentile for verbal ability.
Seventh-graders saw a nearly 20-point boost in verbal ability, vocabulary and reading comprehension from 2007-08, bringing all three median scores to the 99th percentile.
Feldman said the CTP4 is one of myriad ways the school assesses student achievement through its progressive model. Students have to demonstrate what they've learned by teaching other students material in class, for example.
"Often, parents will visit a school like Kazoo and want to know how do we know how we're doing," Feldman said.
"It's nice for us to be able to say our assessments are varied and we're very successful -- but if test scores are what you're stuck on, well, we do well there, too," Feldman said.
Kazoo School, at 1401 Cherry Street, serves students in preschool through eighth grade and is now enrolling for fall. For more informoation, call 345-3239 or visit the school's Web site at www.kazooschool.org.
