By Beth Brogan

BRUNSWICK — Standardized test results for most of Brunswick’s third- through eighth-graders improved — in some cases dramatically — over last year, Assistant Superintendent Gregory Bartlett told the School Board on Wednesday night.

“As we like to say, the battleship has moved,” Bartlett told The Times Record on Tuesday. “It’s big, and people want it moved overnight, but we’ve gotten it in the right direction and it’s moving.”

Those improved results came despite constantly rising standards — due to the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 — and were the result of a rigorous intervention aimed at the children who most needed additional instruction, Bartlett said.

New England Common Assessment Program (NECAP) test results from both October 2009 and October 2010 showed Brunswick students performing better in reading than in math, according to Bartlett and Director of Student Services Paul Austin. But math scores showed greater improvement over the last year than reading.

The greatest gain, according to Austin, came in the reading results between last year’s and this year’s sixth-graders district-wide. They showed an 11 percent increase in proficiency — 72 percent to 83 percent of students — and a full 21 percent proficiency rate above the state average of 62 percent of students.

Other grades registered smaller gains in reading scores, with a 1 percent increase in the district’s fourth grades.

Math results showed even greater improvements, with 73 percent of the district’s sixth-graders showing proficiency — up from 60 percent, and topping the state average of 63 percent.

The same students from grade to grade also showed increased proficiency in all but one grade.

Overall, 78.8 percent of Brunswick third- through eighth-graders met or exceeded state standards in reading test scores, and 67.8 percent met or exceeded state standards in math scores. Both figures top state averages.

Bartlett and Austin attribute the improved scores to a long list of interventions undertaken during the past year, starting with an increased emphasis on math instruction in the classroom.

Some of those efforts were triggered in July 2010, when the Maine Department of Education placed Coffin School on the CIPS (Continuous Improvement Priority School) list after some subgroups at the school — economically disadvantaged and special education students — failed to meet adequate yearly progress standards in math, as defined by No Child Left Behind, for the second consecutive year.

Bartlett said Brunswick had begun to address lagging test scores prior to that point.

In September 2010, Superintendent Paul Perzanoski mandated that all kindergarten through fifth-grade teachers would provide a minimum of 60 minutes of math instruction each day, and each student in first through fifth received a minimum of 90 minutes a day until the October NECAP testing. Austin said “at risk” students in grades six to eight received “increased intervention time” prior to the NECAP test and beyond.

Among other steps, school officials redesigned a “Response to Intervention” system, Bartlett said, to create school-wide and district-wide data teams to review individual, school and district data.

All elementary teachers, led by Coffin Principal John Paige, participated in a book study on math intervention, and junior and high school staff took part in a year-long staff development in reading across the curriculum.

As intervention focused on math, Bartlett said, “we didn’t let reading slip,” as evidenced by reading scores, which also improved.

While work continues at Coffin School with state-funded Department of Education consultant Ann Dooling to address lagging test scores, Bartlett reiterated that the district took action on those scores well before Coffin was identified as a CIPS school. In fact, he said the plan developed during a state-mandated review process at Coffin School was only approved by the Department of Education within the last six weeks, and funding was made available even more recently.

In the interim, Brunswick spent local funds to get a head start, Austin said, and has since used state-approved funding to reimburse the district.

As in previous years, the target proficiency rate established by No Child Left Behind rises. In 2009, schools were required to have 66 percent of their students reach proficiency in reading and 60 percent in math. This year, 75 percent must be proficient in reading and 70 percent in math.

Bartlett said Brunswick’s results are even more impressive with that in mind.

“For regular kids to go up 5 percent is pretty darn good, and we’re asking special ed, English as a Second Language (and other subgroups) to jump 10 percent in math and 9 percent in reading?” he asked rhetorically. “That’s way beyond the pale.”

Bartlett said specific information about the performance of students whose proficiency did not increase over the past year is not yet available.

Because the October 2010 results are only the second year of NECAP scores Brunswick has collected, Austin said it’s too early for the district to see real trends. Still, scores have risen and additional efforts focused on improvement — such as a new math curriculum developed by teachers and soon to be considered by the School Board — should continue that progress, Austin said.

While administrators remain concerned about struggling subgroups — although Austin said one subgroup, students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, made great strides because of focused efforts — Bartlett said the school department is “cautiously optimistic” about the improved NECAP scores.