By Matt Hampton
Several local school officials are encouraged by the results, and see it as a sign that schools are headed in the right direction, despite some economic hardships.
The tests are administered each January, and students are graded on a four-level scale, with those scoring at levels one and two considered below state standard and those scoring at levels three and four meeting or exceeding the standards. This year, perhaps the most impressive results were those of sixth- and eighth-graders in the Elmont and Sewanhaka school districts, whose passing rates were more than 10 percentage points higher than last year.
“We’re very pleased with the percentage of students achieving threes and fours,” said Elmont Board of Education President Frank Ragona. “It was no easy task. It was done through hard work.”
In Elmont, every age group saw an increase in passing rates, and some were dramatic. Third-graders achieved threes or fours on the test 82.2 percent of the time, a 4.3 percentage-point improvement over last year. Fourth-graders saw only a .6 percentage-point increase, with 84.1 percent meeting or exceeding the standards. Fifth-graders saw a big jump of 5.8 percentage points, with 86.2 percent of students passing. The largest increase in either elementary district, however, belonged to sixth-graders. Ninety percent of Elmont sixth-graders scored at level three or four, an improvement of 10.8 percentage points over last year.
“We allow personal attention for students, making sure they have tutorials, and all of this is without having any financial assistance from the state,” Ragona said. “We’re very happy with the scores the students have achieved.”
Seventh- and eighth-graders in the Sewanhaka Central district saw big jumps in their passing numbers as well. Seventh-graders showed improvement of more than 6 percentage points over their 2008 scores, posting an 86.8 percent passing rate. Eighth-graders posted an even larger improvement, from last year’s passing rate of 66.3 percent to this year’s 76.6 percent.
“Our administrators and teachers and the entire school community really work very hard to help prepare our students for these exams,” said Dr. Linda Opyr, Sewanhaka’s assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction.
In the face of some sobering budget numbers for 2009-10, the district was forced to cut expenses. School officials do not believe the cuts will be reflected in next year’s test scores, however, because no vital school programs had to be eliminated.
Opyr said that READ 180, the district’s reading intervention program, helps target students who may be struggling. “We’re really starting to see the beneficial effects in the students’ readiness to take their exams, thanks to that program,” Opyr added.
In Franklin Square, students of all ages continued to distinguish themselves, registering some of the highest passing percentages in Nassau County and New York state. While Franklin Square was the only area district to see a downward movement — a modest .3 percentage-point decrease in the passing rate among fifth-graders — its scores are still head and shoulders above other schools’.
“Every year, as our population changes, we constantly keep raising the bar and raising expectations,” said Julie Soffientini, Franklin Square’s assistant superintendent for curriculum. “Every year it’s like a new challenge.”
More than 95 percent of Franklin Square third-graders scored at level three or four, an improvement of 1.3 percentage points over last year. Fourth-graders performed even better, with 98.2 percent passing. The rate for fifth-graders was 95.7 percent, while sixth-graders enjoyed the biggest increase in the district, 2.3 percentage points, to 97.7.
Soffientini said that despite its success on the exam, the district makes improvement a high priority every year, which is how it is able to maintain its consistency. “We strive to get above the 90th percentile in every grade,” she said. “Our expectations are high — that we achieve at this level every year.”
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