By:LARRY MAIER
Fourth-grade math scores
School year 2000-2001
Merrick Schools Level I Level II Level III Level IV
(Percentage scoring in each level)
Birch 1.2 3.5 29.1 66.3
Levy-Lakeside 0 5.3 29.1 66.3
Chatterton 1.2 1.2 22.9 74.7
North Merrick Schools Level I Level II Level III Level IV
(Percentage scoring in each level)
Camp Avenue 0 0 50.8 49.2
H.D. Fayette 0 4.9 65.9 29.3
Old Mill Road 0 1.4 40.6 58
* 89 percent of public-school students in Nassau County met or exceeded state standards.
* 69.1 percent of public-school students in New York met or exceeded state standards.
Fourth-grade English scores
School year 2000-2001
Merrick Schools Level I Level II Level III Level IV
(Percentage scoring in each level)
Birch 0 14 51.2 34.9
Levy-Lakeside 1.1 6.4 52.1 40.4
Chatterton 1.2 10.7 52.4 35.7
North Merrick Schools Level I Level II Level III Level IV
(Percentage scoring in each level)
Camp Avenue 0 9.1 54.5 36.4
H.D. Fayette 0 19.5 63.4 17.1
Old Mill Road 4.3 10.1 50.7 34.8
* 60 percent of public-school students in New York State met or exceeded state standards.
Eighth-grade math scores
School year 2000-2001
Level I Level II Level III Level IV
(Percentage scoring in each level)
Merrick Avenue
Middle School 6.9 21.9 50 21.2
* 56 percent of public-school students in Nassau County met exceeded state standards.
* 39.4 percent of public-school students in New York met or exceeded state standards.
Eighth-grade English scores
School year 2000-2001
Level I Level II Level III Level IV
(Percentage scoring in each level)
Merrick Avenue
Middle School 1.6 26.3 54 18.1
* 60 percent of public-school students in Nassau County met or exceeded state standards.
* 44.9 percent of public-school students in New York State met or exceeded state standards.
What do the scoring levels mean?
New York State uses a four-level system to describe student performance on the state tests.
Level 1: Shows minimal achievement on the standards; demonstrates no evidence of proficiency in one or more of the standards.
Level 2: Shows partial achievement of the standards; some knowledge and skills for each standard or full proficiency in some but not all of the standards.
Level 3: Meets all of the standards. Shows knowledge and skill in all standards.
Level 4: Shows superior performance, knowledge and skill in all standards.
Administrators question eighth-grade tests; elementary schools score high in fourth grade
For the second straight year, English scores on New York State achievement exams taken by Merrick Avenue Middle School eighth-graders have declined, and math scores have climbed only slightly. In contrast, state test scores on exams taken by Merrick and North Merrick fourth-graders continue to rise.
The scenario, however, is not unique to Merrick schools. Statewide, fourth-grade scores on math and English exams are significantly higher than those of eighth-graders. And the disparity between the grades is growing. Last year, across the state, elementary students improved their test scores from the previous year in math and English. In middle schools, math scores dropped, and English scores remained unchanged.
Last year, 72.1 percent of Merrick Avenue eighth-graders scored in levels 3 and 4 on the English exam, which means they reached all the state's standards. In 2000, 73 percent of students scored in levels 3 and 4, and in 1999, that number was 74 percent. On math exams last year, 71.2 percent of Merrick Avenue eighth-graders reached state standards, up slightly from 71 percent in 2000 and 69 percent in 1999.
Both sets of scores were above state and Nassau County averages.
Results for Merrick and North Merrick fourth-graders were much better. In the Merrick School District last year, 89 percent of fourth-graders scored in levels 3 and 4 on the English exam, up from 78 percent in 1999. In math, 95.9 percent met state standards, up from 95 percent in 2000 and 94 percent in 1999.
In North Merrick, 86 percent of last year's fourth-graders scored in levels 3 and 4 on the English exam. In 1999, that number was 72 percent. Math scores in North Merrick also improved dramatically, from 92 percent meeting state standards in 1999 and 93 percent in 2000 to 98.3 percent in 2001.
State Education Department officials say that middle-school educators need to do a better job teaching math and English skills to their students.
But some school administrators, including Dr. Frederic Cohen, Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District deputy superintendent for instruction, say the problem is not with middle schools but with the state tests themselves.
Cohen has reviewed the test scores of all school districts in Nassau and Suffolk counties and observed that no eighth-grade class in any district performed as well as its fourth-grade class. Either every Long Island middle school is doing a worse job than its elementary school in preparing students for achievement exams, or New York State is making the eighth-grade exams more difficult than fourth-grade tests, Cohen said.
"The conclusion that we have drawn is that there is a difference in the way they are setting standards for fourth- and eighth-grade tests," Cohen said. "From our point of view, they do this to get the scores they probably want to get. By putting pressure on the eighth-grade, they can say that middle schools are doing a terrible job, and that way middle schools will do more and more."
By doing more, Cohen means providing academic-intervention services to all students who score below state standards. By making the eighth-grade exams more difficult, the state forces middle schools to institute more remedial programs, often at the expense of other academic enrichment, Cohen said.
But less-than-stellar, middle-school test scores do not translate into poor academic achievement, said Cohen, who noted that there are students in the Bellmore-Merrick district who scored in level 2 on the state eighth-grade English exam, yet take honors English courses and get high grades.
Also, despite stagnant middle-school test scores, the Bellmore-Merrick district's Regents scores continue to improve. Last year, 99 percent of district seniors passed the math Regents exam; ninety seven percent passed the English Regents.
Cohen said that instruction is not necessarily getting better at the high school level, rather Regents exams are getting easier. The state Education Department is "putting more weight on low stake [middle-school] testing and making high-stake tests easier," said Cohen. "To tell me that I'm doing a better job in my high schools than middle schools is ridiculous."
SH: Elementary administrators 'puzzled'
Both Dr. Ronald Smith, superintendent of the Merrick School District, and David Feller, superintendent of the North Merrick School District, agree that the disparity between fourth- and eighth-grade test scores is puzzling.
"It doesn't make sense that some kids score a 3 or 4 and all of a sudden score a 1 or a 2 and then go back and do well on the Regents," Smith said.
Nassau County superintendents recently asked state Education Commissioner Richard Mills for an independent review of the assessment exams to see whether what is being measured on the eighth-grade tests lines up with state and district standards, Feller said. That is, do the tests measure what the state is telling teachers to teach?
"The state needs to do more work in terms of aligning the assessment with the standards," Feller said.
Despite the Merrick district's high marks, Smith cautions that the state tests only measure specific skills. One reason why fourth-grade scores consistently top those of the eighth grade is that elementary teachers are familiar with what is stressed on the tests and can instruct students accordingly.
For example, Smith says that the writing section of the fourth-grade English exam requires specific writing skills. "The test defines a very good language-arts student as someone who puts in a lot of detail," said Smith. "A lot of teachers will work to encourage children to do those things to have the child score higher."
Feller said that the sheer number of tests taken by eighth-graders might contribute to their lower scores. "Eighth-graders are hit very hard with assessments that year, which could be a factor in performance," Feller said.
