By:Andrew Coen
Overall, schools across the state reported lower ELA scores.
Hewlett-Woodmere
Seventy-six percent of Hewlett-Woodmere fourth-graders met the state standards on the ELA exam, as compared with 86 percent in 2003, while the eighth-graders improved slightly, from 67 percent to 69 percent meeting state standards.
Susan Pratt, assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction, said that this year-s fourth-grade class has a different makeup than the 2003 fourth-graders. The balance of the ratio of children with special needs is different than the typical grade level, said Pratt.
She also said that this year-s exam placed more emphasis on reading, which made it a harder test. I think our concern with the test is ... that it-s different from year to year, said Pratt. We have assessed [the students] in many ways, so we have way more helpful information on them than a state test does.
According to Pratt, ideas have already been formulated for next year to improve results, including grouping the students differently and providing additional reading assistance. It is now our job to continue to find ways to reach these children, said Pratt.
According to the results, 81 percent of Hewlett Elementary School fourth-graders who took the exam met the state standards, while 70 percent at Ogden Elementary School did so.
Despite the slight improvement in the eighth-grade results, and with the number of students scoring at the highest level doubling from 13 percent to 26, Pratt said the district will continue to work with the Board of Cooperative Educational Services Literacy Project to continue to improve scores. The BOCES project was started at the Woodmere Middle School last November, and calls for instructors to work with the teachers and students to analyze the test. The middle school also has consultants working with special-education students on the ELA exam.
Hewlett-Woodmere school board President Richard Braverman, who is retiring at the end of the month after 21 years, has never been a fan of using standardized tests for judging the success of students, and is not worried about the results. I have trouble looking at a fourth-grade class and saying, ÔOh dear,- said Braverman. It is nothing more than a snapshot in time. The whole [testing] process is an absolute joke.
Lawrence results
Lawrence Public Schools improved on both the fourth- and eighth-grade ELA exams. The most dramatic improvement was seen among eighth-graders, who improved their performance on the test by 12 percentage points over last year, from 47 percent to 59 percent meeting the state standards. Lawrence eighth-graders went from scoring fourth-lowest in the county last year to tying with Long Beach for 10th-lowest in 2004. The district fared better than West Hempstead (54 percent), Baldwin (54 percent), Mineola (53 percent), East Rockaway (51 percent), Uniondale (49 percent), Glen Cove (44 percent), Freeport (41 percent), Hempstead (20 percent) and Roosevelt (15 percent).
Scores across the state went down, and we went up, so that is a good sign of improvement, said Michelle L. Lineal, Lawrence-s assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction.
On the elementary-school level, Lawrence showed slight improvement, with 70 percent of fourth-graders meeting the standard compared with 69 percent last year, when the district tied with Roosevelt for last in the county. This year-s results pulled Lawrence even with Baldwin for fourth-lowest among the county-s 56 school districts, ahead of only Roosevelt (69 percent), Hempstead (63 percent) and Westbury (61 percent).
Lineal attributed the improvement on the eighth-grade tests to reading specialists working with the students who struggled the most. She also said that third-graders taking the Test of New York Standards helped prepare them for the fourth-grade ELAs.
I-m happy we went up, but I won-t be happy until it gets as high as I think the kids should perform, Lineal said. We continue to look at ways to improve, but we need the community-s support, she added, referring to the importance of the community-s passing the district-s proposed budget on the re-vote scheduled for June 22 in order to avoid a second straight contingency budget.
The Number Five School in Cedarhurst showed the best results on the fourth-grade ELA exams, with 78 percent of students meeting the state standards. The Number Two School in Inwood was second, with 72 percent of the fourth-graders meeting or achieving state standards. The Number Six School in Woodmere showed 71 percent achieving state standards, and the Number One School in Lawrence had 60 percent.
We are very pleased with the results, and we hope to continue this trend, said Nancy Piccirillo, Lawrence Central Council co-PTA president.
Overall, 62 percent of New York state fourth-graders met the state standards in 2004, compared with 64 percent in 2003. In 1999, when the tests were given for the first time, 48 percent met the standards statewide.
