Rockville Centre schools test scores drop

There were a few bright spots among the results released by the New York State Education Department last week, but for the most part, Rockville Centre students scored lower on English Language Arts and math proficiency tests this school year than in 2009-10.

In all but four areas — the fifth-grade ELA scores and sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade math — the percentage of district students who scored at levels 3 or 4 on the statewide exams dropped from last year. Those scores are considered passing grades, while students who score at levels 1 and 2 are considered to be in need of academic intervention. In one case, Grade 3 math, the percentage of local students who scored 3 or 4 was lower than the Nassau County average.

This was the second straight year in which there was a decline in students’ scores. It counters a trend of continually higher rates of proficiency in the yearly assessments, taken by students in grades 3 through 8, that school districts throughout the state — including Rockville Centre — had enjoyed until recently.

The drop was attributable at least in part to changes made by the state that effectively raised the scoring requirements in an effort to better prepare students for higher education. Besides moving the 2011 ELA test from January to May and the math exam from March to May, state educators also increased the “cut scores” — the raw scores that define each of the four levels of proficiency, or lack of it. This year as well, the tests were significantly longer, which Board of Education President Liz Dion noted in a written statement she sent to the Herald.

“The test results were unexpected and we are concerned,” Dion said. “The state has dramatically changed both the ELA and the math test over the past year, increasing both the length and the difficulty. Our administration is currently analyzing the results in order to determine the best course of action. We will work together to ensure that all of our students have the tools to meet the challenges that lie ahead.”

“We’re disappointed,” said schools Superintendent Dr. William Johnson.

“We don’t teach to the test — we prepare kids for college beginning in the early elementary grades.”