Lake Forest School District shows major test score growth
FELTON, Del. – Delaware released its 2019 school assessment results and two school districts in particular saw a major improvement this past year.
After looking through the 2019 assessment results, the Lake Forest and Seaford School Districts stuck out the most because they saw the most growth, especially among minority students. Brenda Wynder, the Lake Forest School District Superintendent, tells 47 ABC there are three things that have helped them succeed despite the student demographics that say they shouldn’t have.
About half of the students in the Lake Forest School District are on free or reduced lunch.
“That’s a high poverty level but yet we are still able to come together as a community,” says Wynder.
However, according to Delaware’s 2019 school assessment results, students and staff are defying the odds.
“In our case we’ve been able to work around that barrier to help the students get what they need to,” says Wynder.
Two of Lake Forest’s elementary schools had between an 8 and 39 percent increase in math and English test scores. Superintendent Wynder credits that growth to three things, including teachers learning from each other.
“That goes a very long way because it keeps you from going back to the wheelhouse to try and figure out what to do,” says Wynder.
Wynder says parent involvement, as well as targeted intervention, create a more hands on atmosphere.
“It’s based on each students need more than one overall program,” says Wynder. But Wynder tells 47 ABC the improvement comes from consistently using the same approach for the last two years. “You have to give it time to make progress and really sink in.”
Seaford’s Frederick Douglass Elementary also had strong gains in its English and math test scores. Seaford’s District Superintendent David Perrington tells 47 ABC, “We are proud of our success story.”
As for science and social studies test scores, Delaware transitioned this year to new assessments for those. So state officials will spend the fall figuring out which scores are proficient on those new tests. Those results will be released this winter.
