By Dana Williams
Brown stressed, however, that "there is always room for growth."
The New York State Department of Education released the results of its standardized test on May 22, showing that middle school scores have improved across Long Island. The test - which is administered to students in grades 3 through 8 in January - aims to track student progress each year. It is scored on a scale of one to four levels, with Level 4 being the highest. To pass, students must score at Level 3 or 4.
Baldwin's eighth grade students passed the ELA exam at a rate higher than the Nassau County average of 77.4 percent, with 80.2 percent meeting or exceeding the state standards. According to the figures released by the state education department, their scores are also a part of a statewide trend, with eighth-grade students showing the greatest improvement in ELA test scores this year.
"Our students are demonstrating their knowledge in the ELA assessment scores, and that's always a good thing," Brown said. "There are a lot of school initiatives that we have, and I believe that has had an impact."
For the past three years, educators in the district have followed a "Literacy Across the Content Area" initiative in which students are given reading and writing assignments in all subjects. The initiative's goal is to better prepare the students for state and other examinations, school officials said.
"The ELA teachers only have the children for 40 minutes, and for many of our children, that's not enough practice in their writing skills," Brown explained. "Our kids just don't write in their ELA classes, so through this initiative, our children get an opportunity to practice their writing in different content areas."
Kevin Harrington, the district's ELA chairman, agreed that the initiative has helped students improve their scores because it "also provides professional development for teachers on different reading and writing strategies to use to help their students."
The district's seventh grade students also improved their test performance, with 78.3 percent meeting or exceeding state standards. This was also the second year that seventh-grade students scored above the county average.
"The test scores certainly reflect the hard work of our students and staff," Harrington said.
The Baldwin School District, however, did see some falling scores this year. There was a 5-percentage-point decrease in sixth-graders' scores, with 72.3 percent meeting or exceeding state standards. These same students passed at a rate of 77.3 percent when they took the ELA test last year as fifth-graders.
Results also show that 81.9 percent of Baldwin's fifth grade students scored at or above Level 3 this year, while 82.3 percent of its fourth grade students met or exceeded state standards. Both grades, however, have slightly lower scores than they did in 2006.
To better assist with the grade transition problems that occur among students on the ELAs - and with students who score below Level 3 - Brown said that school officials analyze the data from the test results from previous years to see what instructional methods need to be changed.
The district's third, fourth, fifth and sixth grade students all scored below the county averages. The third-graders, who are also first-time ELA test takers, passed at a rate of 78.5 percent this year. The county-wide passing rate for third-graders was 83 percent.
"I'm satisfied with the improvements our students have made with ELAs in the last several years, and we know we can do better," Brown said.
The New York 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.
Michael Roccoforte, Baldwin's assistant superintendent for instruction, said that the test scores should not be used for comparisons among districts, because school officials use the test scores "as an internal tool" to help them "address instructional issues."
"The test scores are not meant to say one school is better than another is or one school did this better than the other," Roccoforte added. "I meet with the principals and we look at the results item by item, and we all look at what we can do better to prepare our kids for these kinds of exams."
Brown and Harrington shared those sentiments. "Although the test scores are a part of what the state uses to say that a school is in good standing, or not in good standing, there's definitely more to education, and to the quality of a school district, than test scores," Brown said.
Comments about this story? DWilliams@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 207.
