By: Nick Buglione
Since Lynne Manouvrier became assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction this school year, the district's main focus has turned to increasing reading, writing and critical thinking among the student body.
The result, Manouvrier said, has translated into increased ELA test scores.
Eighty-three percent of the East Meadow 602 fourth-graders tested passed this year, as opposed to only 81 percent last year. About 69 percent of the 712 eighth-graders tested passed this year, compared to 67 percent last year.
Administered annually in January or February, the ELA test is administered to fourth- and eighth-graders, challenging their skills in reading, listening attentively, and responding in writing to literary and informational passages.
Scoring is based on a four-point scale. Three and four are passing grades. One and two scores indicate that a student needs extra support in language arts.
"We're doing quite a lot in terms of literacy, and it seems to be working," Manouvrier said. "Literacy is the backbone of education."
The district's new initiative is aimed at promoting literacy among East Meadow students and pinpointing the areas that need work. Critical thinking and writing is a now prevalent part of all subjects, not just language arts, Manouvrier said.
This year the district also administered diagnostic tests at the beginning of the year to help teachers identify their students' problem areas and address them.
Monthly meetings among classroom and reading teachers to promote the sharing of instructional strategies were started, and the district has a summer reading program on tap, as well.
While more East Meadow students passed the ELA test overall, a closer look at the numbers tells a different story. A breakdown of the scores by elementary school reveals that four -- Barnum Woods, McVey, Meadowbrook and Parkway -- experienced slight decreases in the number of passing students. But Bowling Green Elementary School's numbers jumped 22 percentage points, raising the district average.
The same was true on the middle school level, where the number of Clarke Middle School eighth-graders who passed dropped 2 percentage points, while the number of Woodland Middle School eighth-graders who passed went up 3 percentage points.
Although Meadowbrook's scores went down from last year, it should be noted that the school was recently named to New York State's most improved list for increasing its ELA passing rate by 29 percent in the last five years.
Still, Manouvrier stressed these tests don't sum up a student's abilities. "These assessments are just a snapshot of what a child can do on a particular day," she said.
Since the district's new reading and writing initiative is only in its first year, the assistant superintendent expects scores to only get better in the future.
