WINDHAM — Windham students performed above the state average in science on the New England Common Assessment Program test, but School Board members see room for improvement.

The science NECAP test is given to fourth-, eighth- and 11th-graders in the spring, and the results were just released. In Windham, 63 percent of fourth-graders, 52 percent of eighth-graders, and 41 percent of 11th-graders were proficient in science. State averages report 53 percent of fourth-graders, 32 percent of eighth-graders, and 33 percent of 11th-graders in the proficient category.

“As you can see there’s quite a lot to celebrate here in terms of our being above state average consistently in our proficiency and below state average in our below proficiency,” said Curriculum Director Natasha Ondzes in her presentation to the School Board on Tuesday.

The results are a “district snapshot” representing a moment in time, Ondzes said. The results represent a different group of children than was tested last year and does not represent a growth model, she said.

Overall, the number of Windham students in the proficient category increased over previous years in grades eight and 11 but dipped slightly this year in grade four. The drop was within a couple of points and may not be statistically significant, Ondzes said.

The data is not meant to be used for cohort comparisons, Ondzes said.

“The value in a lot of this is to analyze our instructional methods and our curriculum, and see where we need to make improvements and what we’re doing well,” Ondzes said.

Any short-term improvement that can be made this year will be done, Ondzes said. Long-range improvements include a vertically aligned K through 12 curriculum with less repetition, implementation of science inquiry tasks, and exploration of best practices for science.

Putting the results in national context, Ondzes said New Hampshire sets high science standards that are reflected in the test results.

“If our school were compared to other states, our proficiency would be extremely high,” Ondzes said. “It’s kind of important to put it in that national context.”

Board member Jerome Rekart asked whether the eighth-grades scores were partly due to a lack of science labs and limited opportunity for hands-on learning experience. He commended the teachers for the success they’ve had in challenging conditions but said science knowledge is becoming more important.

“I would love to see the team set as a goal 50 percent proficient on the NECAP in a reasonable amount of time,” Rekart said.

Board member Stephanie Wimmer also saw some room for improvement.

“I wasn’t celebrating when I saw these numbers,” Wimmer said.

Wimmer asked for a breakdown of the numbers showing how close to the bar some of the non-proficient numbers were. She acknowledged the infrastructure difficulties and other issues and said the schools are addressing the problems quickly and aggressively. While it’s nice to beat the state averages, Wimmer said, she’s confident the district is doing better than what the numbers reflect.

“I have hopes and dreams that we can do even better, and it sounds like we’re positioning ourselves to do that going forward,” Wimmer said.

Superintendent Henry LaBranche agreed that there’s always room for improvement.

“Wherever those scores are, we should not be satisfied,” LaBranche said.

jhanson@newstote.com