By Angela Marshall
Of the district's seven elementary schools, only at Lenox did the percentage of students meeting state standards fail to rise sharply this year.
School Board President Mary Jo O'Hagan said she feels a "qualified pleasure" by the overall increase. Even as scores climb closer to the desired 90 percent passing level, officials say that the percentage changes are not an accurate figure by which to judge the district.
O'Hagan said that because students change from year to year, comparing results is not an accurate measure of the district. She said it is like comparing "apples and oranges."
Of the 396 fourth-graders who took the test this year, 328 are considered to be on the right track for learning.
The exam has four levels of scoring. Students in Level 1 are deemed by the state to have serious academic deficiencies. Brookside, Milburn and Shubert had no students in Level 1. Meadow, the district's largest school, with 111 fourth-grade test takers, saw five students place in Level 1, followed by Lenox, three, and Plaza and Steele, two each.
The district had 57 students in Level 2, which indicates they will need extra help if they are to meet the higher graduation requirements set by the state. Milburn, the district's smallest school, with 24 test takers, had no students in this level, either. Lenox and Meadow, with 17 and 16 respectively, had the most. Plaza and Steele each had nine. Shubert had one and Brookside, four.
The majority of Baldwin students, 214, fell into Level 3, which indicates they met the standards. The bulk of Meadow students, 60, scored in this range. Twenty-six students from Brookside and Shubert placed in Level 3, as did 47 of Plaza's 81 students. Steele had 19; Lenox, 20, and Milburn, 16.
In 1999, the first year of testing, only 30 of the 386 students tested made it to Level 4. This year 114 of the 396 students tested achieved the highest category, which indicates they are learning at a rate higher than the state standards.
Eleven of Shubert's 38 students and Brookside's 41 students reached Level 4. Meadow had the most, with 30, followed by Plaza, with 23. Lenox had 18, Steele, 13, and eight of Milburn's students scored in Level 4.
Although all schools showed an increase in students scoring in the "passing" levels, Lenox made the least progress. Sixty-two percent of Lenox students met the standards the first two years and 65 percent achieved that goal this year. Twenty of Lenox's 58 students scored in levels 1 and 2 this year and will need extra help.
Despite the scores, Debbie Wynne, a Lenox mother, feels the children receive "a wonderful education" at the school. "I can't say enough good things about the staff," she said.
She said that one problem not reflected in the scores is the increasing numbers of new students moving into the area. Wynne said she knows of one child who moved in just two weeks before the test was given.
One Lenox father who is concerned about how well his first-grader is being prepared for the test said that he does not think there are any easy answers as to why the Lenox scores are not increasing. He plans to bring the test scores up at the next school board meeting.
Although Plaza scores also showed only 62 percent of students passing in 2000, 86.4 percent, or 70 students, placed in levels 3 and 4 this year.
"The dramatic increase in passing scores is a testament to the quality of the Plaza faculty," said Nancy Deignan, PTA president. "The students and their families should also be congratulated for their hard work."
O'Hagan said that there is no clear reason as to why one school does better than another. She said there is no key to success that can be copied and that district officials would be looking closely at the whole program to see where they can make changes.
