By:Nicole Falco
In order for a school to make the list, at least 50 percent of its students had to score at levels 3 or 4, which means they met or exceeded state standards. Also, a school had to have shown an improvement of at least 20 percentage points.
Of the 10, two schools have shown improvement on both the fourth-grade math and English tests, six schools improved on the fourth-grade English test, and two schools showed increases on the eighth-grade math assessment.
Central High School District
The Central High School District-s Memorial Junior High and South High are ranked 18th and 28th, respectively, out of the 30 schools in Nassau County that showed improvement on the eighth-grade math assessment. In 1999, 46.9 percent of students who took the math test at Memorial scored 3 or 4. In 2003, 71.8 percent scored 3 or 4. At South, 75.1 percent of eighth-graders scored 3 or 4 in 2003, compared with 54.2 in 1999.
Dr. Lois Austen, assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction in the high school district, attributed the improvements to the hard work of students, parents, teachers and the administration at both the district and school levels. Austen said the significant increases speak volumes about the work being done at the middle-school level.
The district looks forward to continued success on state assessments in 2004, Austen said, thanks to increased focus at the middle-school level, better use of data, teacher teams and improvements in the math curriculum. The 2004 English assessments were administered earlier this year, but the results have not yet been released. The math assessment will be administered May 5.
District 13
Three of District 13-s four elementary schools made the list of most-improved schools for the fourth-grade English assessment. One of the three also made improvements in math.
The Willow Road School ranked 21st out of the 60 Nassau County schools on the list in English, and 13th out of 26 on the list in math. In 1999, 36 percent of fourth-graders scored 3 or 4 on the English test, compared with 70.2 percent in 2003. On the math test, 50 percent met state standards in 1999, compared with 82.4 in 2003.
The James A. Dever and Howell Road Schools were ranked 36th and 58th on the most-improved list in English. Dever improved from 58.8 percent in 1999 to 84 percent in 2003, while Howell improved from 50 percent in 1999 to 70.3 percent last year.
District 24
All three District 24 elementary schools were on the state-s most-improved list in English. The Robert W. Carbonaro School also showed an increase on the fourth-grade math assessment.
Carbonaro, the Brooklyn Avenue School and William L. Buck are ranked 14th, 51st and 60th, respectively, on the list of Nassau County schools in English. Carbonaro improved from 37.5 percent scoring 3 or 4 in 1999 to 79.6 in 2003, Brooklyn Avenue improved from 64.9 percent five years ago to 86.3 last year, and Buck rounded out the list with an increase to 72.9 percent from 52.9 percent in 1999.
District 30
District 30-s Shaw Avenue and Forest Road Schools made the list of most-improved on the fourth-grade English test. Shaw ranked 43rd of 60 in Nassau County, and Forest Road came in at No. 54.
Shaw improved from 60.8 percent scoring 3 or 4 in 1999 to 84.4 percent in 2003; Forest Road improved to 84.3 percent last year, from 63.6 percent. Obviously, we-re very, very pleased, Lawrence McGoldrick, superintendent of schools, said.
