CHICAGO (August 27, 2003)

Students in Archdiocese of Chicago Catholic elementary schools scored well above national averages on standardized achievement tests administered earlier this spring.

Nicholas Wolsonovich, Ph.D., superintendent of schools, reported today that the third-, fifth- and seventh-grade students enrolled in the Archdiocese’s elementary schools who took the Terra Nova II test published by CTB-McGraw Hill in Monterey, Calif., consistently scored well above the national norm (i.e., 50th percentile) in the core subject areas of reading, language and mathematics.

“Learning continues on an upward trend in our schools,” said Wolsonovich. “We’re pleased that overall our students have once again performed well above the national average on the TerraNova II tests. These latest scores reflect ongoing improvement among our students, who clearly are comprehending and retaining what they are learning in our classrooms.”

Throughout the Archdiocese in the core subject areas of reading, language and mathematics combined (total score):

• students scored at the 67th percentile in the third grade, at the 70th percentile in the fifth grade and at the 73rd percentile in the seventh grade. These results, Wolsonovich said, mean that 67 percent, 70 percent, 73 percent of the third-, fifth- and seventh-grade national scores, respectively, were at or below scores earned by students in the Archdiocese of Chicago.

Scores in science and social studies were also above the national norm:

• third-grade students scored at the 60th percentile in science and at the 68th percentile in social studies. Fifth-grade students scored at the 64th percentile in science and at the 67th percentile in social studies. Seventh-grade students scored at the 64th percentile in science and at the 73rd percentile in social studies.

Test results for Catholic schools in the city of Chicago were:

• Catholic school students in the city scored overall in reading, language and mathematics at the 57th percentile in third grade, at the 62nd percentile in the fifth grade and at the 65th percentile in the seventh grade;
• students in the 83 inner-city elementary schools who receive financial support from the Big Shoulders Fund scored at the 45th percentile for third-grade students; at the 51st percentile for fifth-grade students; and at the 55th percentile for seventh-grade students. Seventh-grade students in schools supported by the Big Shoulders Fund scored at the 54th percentile in reading, at the 63rd percentile in language and at the 47th percentile in mathematics.

Wolsonovich said that according to the test publishers, a deviation of seven percentile points is not statistically significant.

Other system-wide test results were:

• seventh-grade students scored at the 70th percentile in reading, at the 78th percentile in language and at the 68th percentile in mathematics. These scores are 20, 28 and 18 percentile points, respectively, above the national norm;
• fifth-grade students scored at the 70th percentile in reading, at the 73rd percentile in language and at the 64th percentile in mathematics;
• third-grade students scored at the 63rd percentile in reading, at the 68th percentile in language and at the 65th percentile in mathematics.

Long-term Data Indicates Growth

“An analysis of test scores for the current seventh-grade students over a four-year period, following the same group of students, supports the finding that the longer a student stays in the archdiocesan system, the greater his or her achievement gains,” said Wolsonovich. “Not only are we keeping pace with the national scores, but, in many cases, we are exceeding them.”

In 2003, the mean normal curve equivalent (NCE) for seventh-grade students in the Archdiocese of Chicago shows some growth in each of the content areas. The seventh graders scored a mean NCE of 63 for the core subject areas of reading, language and mathematics combined. The same group of students scored a mean NCE 60 overall when they were in fifth grade (2001) and a mean NCE of 58 overall when they were in third grade (1999). The mean normal curve equivalent is the average of the normal curve equivalent scores for a group.

TerraNova was selected as the mandated Archdiocesan testing and assessment program because of its focus on national education standards, Wolsonovich said. Illinois standards and Archdiocesan policy requires testing in grades three, five and seven; however, some schools test all grades.

TerraNova is used widely by public and Catholic school systems in the United States, including the U.S. Department of Defense schools state-wide and overseas. The Archdiocese of Chicago has been administering a standardized achievement test from CTB since 1987. TerraNova II is an updated version of TerraNova I and was normed in 2000.

Archdiocese of Chicago Catholic Schools
The Catholic schools of the Archdiocese of Chicago play a critical role in the life of the community by providing academic excellence and faith formation for more than 117,000 students of many races, faiths and backgrounds in the 283 elementary and secondary schools in Cook and Lake counties. There are more than 6,400 teachers in the Catholic school system who instill values, teach discipline and achieve strong, consistent academic results in the Archdiocese of Chicago's 242 elementary and 41 secondary schools. Visit the Archdiocese of Chicago Web site at http://schools.archchicago.org.