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Partly Cloudy Merrick test scores surpass county average
But third-grade ELA scores are area of concern
The State Department of Education recently upped its "cut scores" for elementary-level English and math tests, making it harder for children to pass the exams, and the change became a topic of discussion at Tuesday night's Merrick Board of Education meeting.
Students who score at Level 1 and 2 on the annual standardized tests are deemed to be in need of remedial help, known as academic intervention services, while students who score at Level 3 or 4 have passed and do not require additional instruction. Last year, students needed to attain a 73 percent on standardized tests to reach Level 3, thus surpassing the state's "cut score," but this year they needed to score 88 percent.
While each grade level in Merrick was at or above the county average in 2010, the scores per grade dropped across the board, as was the case in virtually all districts across Nassau.
Of greatest concern was the third grade, with 69 percent of students reaching the cut score on the English Language Arts exam, compared with 68 percent countywide.
Eighty-three percent of fourth-graders passed the ELA, compared with 76 percent countywide.
Eighty-one percent of fifth-graders passed the ELA, compared with 68 percent countywide.
And 82 percent of sixth-graders passed, compared with 74 percent countywide.
Board of Education members expressed concern that the cut scores are too high and are thus giving an inaccurate assessment of students' proficiency.
They insisted that they do not want to implement major changes to the curriculum based on one year of test results. "We need to be careful with using statistics to make sweeping changes," said Trustee Dr. Nancy Kaplan.
Dr. Rainer Melucci, superintendent of the Merrick School District, said that, had the cut scores remained the same as they were the previous year, 87 percent of third-graders, 91 percent of fourth-graders and 95 percent of fifth-graders would have passed the ELA exam.
"The testing program has evolved into something it has never meant to be," Melucci said.
