MCS students show gains in national standardized tests

Results from the recently administered SAT-10 national standardized test show significant improvement in Mount Carmel School student performance across all subject areas. (Contributed Photo)

Mount Carmel School announced yesterday that its students fared very well in recently administered SAT-10 and College Board AP national standardized tests.

In a statement, the school said the results “show significant improvement” in all subjects across all grade levels.

“On average, students performed at or above the 50th percentile on the SAT-10 and improved from the previous year. For the complete 2017 battery, the average performance of all students was in the 52nd percentile, up from the 48th percentile in 2016,” the statement added.

National percentile ranks indicate the relative standing of a student in comparison with other students in the same grade in the norm reference group who took the test at a comparable time.

Based on the school’s results, students at Mount Carmel School scored, on average, better than 52 percent of the rest of the nation, said school president Galvin Deleon Guerrero, who is quoted in the statement.

“Performance on specific subject areas also showed marked improvement from previous years. The average performance in math increased from the 51st percentile in 2016 to the 52nd percentile in 2017, while the average performance in reading increased from the 44th percentile in 2016 to the 47th percentile in 2017,” the statement adds. “The average in science increased from the 52nd percentile in 2016 to the 55th percentile in 2017, while the average in social studies increased from the 49th percentile in 2016 to the 50th percentile in 2017.”

The statement said that its high school students also demonstrated marked improvement in the College Board AP Tests. In AP English Literature and Composition, average student performance improved by 43 percent from 2016 to 2017, while average performance in AP U.S. Government and Politics improved by 19 percent in the same timeframe, it added.

Deleon Guerrero attributed the success to the school’s consistent emphasis on instructional quality and initiatives to boost literacy.

“We are constantly improving in the area of instructional quality, especially under the leadership of our principal, Frances Taimanao, and vice principal, Helene Manning,” he said. “Plus, tools like Achieve3000 are helping our teachers meet the individual needs of all our students.”

Achieve3000 is a cloud-based suite of interactive readings, formative assessments, and other resources that promote differentiated instruction and interdisciplinary reading for all grade levels.

Last year, incoming 6th grader Leyonne Tolentino was recognized by Achieve3000 for ranking as one of the nation’s top readers two years in a row.

Achieve3000 consultant Troy Akiyama even visited the school to personally congratulate Tolentino.