By Dana Williams
They stress, however, that there is always room for growth.
The New York State Department of Education released the results of its standardized test on June 23, and ELA scores improved statewide this year. The test — which is given to students in grades three through eight in January — aims to track student progress each year. It is scored on four levels, with Level 4 being the highest. To pass, students must score at Level 3 or 4.
In Malverne, sixth-grade students showed the greatest improvement, with 83.2 percent meeting or exceeding the state’s learning standards. Only 65.7 percent of students passed when they took the test last year as fifth-graders. Seventh-grade students also improved, with 79.3 percent meeting or exceeding state standards — up 5.1 percentage points from last year. Fourth-graders also passed at a slightly higher rate than last year, at 82 percent.
In the district’s middle school, students participate in a Read 180 program, a double-period class devoted to exercises and training to improve the skills needed on the ELA test. The program is one of several that District 12 school officials use to improve their students’ test score performance.
“The Read 180 program is a computer-driven program that designs specific lessons based on the students’ needs in terms of reading and comprehension, and it has definitely had an impact on our students’ scores,” explained Joan Gordon, the district’s English Language Arts chairwoman. “The program has three stations set up in the classroom, which includes a listening and computer station as well as a station where students work with their teachers in an individualized mini-lesson.”
The third graders, who were first-time ELA test takers, also impressed District 12 administrators, passing at a rate of 81.8 percent. In 2005 the district implemented a Reading Recovery program for first-grade students, which includes one-on-one reading training, and school officials said it helped the third-graders to score well on the test. “Reading Recovery gives the students very specific and intensive training because it teaches them to decode and comprehend at an early age,” Gordon said. “We started the program three years ago, and now we’re starting to see the fruits of our labor.”
The Malverne district did, however, see some falling scores this year, with fifth- and eighth-graders scoring slightly lower on the test. The number of eighth-graders who passed dropped 4.6 percentage points, to 60.1 percent. Fifth-graders, meanwhile, passed at a rate of 86 percent, down 2.2 percentage points from their collective performance on the ELA test last year.
“We’re always looking to improve, and we provide additional help throughout the day for our youngsters who need it,” Gordon said. “The test results show us what areas we need to improve in, and researching and looking to see what else is out there to help our students improve is really ongoing in this district.”
West Hempstead
John Hogan, West Hempstead’s superintendent of schools, said school officials are looking to build on the progress students have made on the ELA test. This year, the district’s sixth-graders showed the most improvement, with 84.7 percent meeting or exceeding the state’s learning standards — a 14-percentage-point increase over their performance as fifth-graders last year.
Fourth-, fifth- and seventh-graders also improved, with fifth-graders passing at a rate of 87.6 percent, an increase of 7.5 percentage points over last year. Just over 85 percent of the district’s fourth-graders met or exceeded state standards, a year after 79.1 of them passed as third-graders. Seventh-graders improved by 5.9 percentage points, with 85.1 percent passing the exam, and third-graders scored well as first-time test-takers, passing at a rate of 78.4 percent.
“Overall, we’re pleased with this year’s ELA results,” Hogan said. “The test scores show us, though, that there’s still some areas where improvement is needed, and we’re going to be working on that.”
One of those areas is the eighth grade, where scores dropped 12.3 percentage points from last year, with only 67.2 percent meeting or exceeding state standards. School officials have a number of initiatives in store to help with grade transition problems and other difficulties students have with the ELA test. The district’s budget for the 2008-09 school year includes, among other things, funding for additional reading teachers district-wide.
“We are also looking into putting together some grade-level teams to take a look at our English Language Arts curriculum and instruction, and come up with different strategies to better assist our students,” Hogan explained, adding that the district provides academic intervention services and extra help for students. “In addition, we’re going to be working on our elementary ELA curriculum throughout this summer, and with the additional reading teachers, we’re hopeful that our boys and girls will continue to improve.”
The state Department of Education maintains that it has high learning standards that “describe what students should know, understand and be able to do.” The standards require students “to read, write, listen and speak,” according to the department’s Web site. Yet the ELA test has often been criticized because of the gaps in scoring performance among school districts in the same county.
Several administrators in Malverne and West Hempstead said, however, that test scores should not be used for comparisons of schools and districts, because school officials use the scores as an internal tool to help them address instructional issues. “We use the ELA exam to let us know where we need to focus our attention as ELA professionals,” Gordon said. “The test is actually advantageous to us because it lets us see exactly where students need specific help. We also revise curriculum and instruction based on the scores, and the test is really a helpful instructional tool.”
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