By Andrew Coen
The results showed Hewlett-Woodmere faring better, finishing 21st out of the county's 54 districts on the fourth-grade tests.
We're very disappointed at the results, Lawrence Superintendent Dr. Mark Rosenbaum said. The Board of Education is committed to not seeing a repeat of this in the future.
Out of 235 Lawrence fourth-graders tested on the ELA exams, 69.3 percent met the state standards, and there was a mean score of 668. The eighth-grade results showed that 47.2 percent of the 303 students who took the test passed Ñ the fourth-lowest passing percentage in the county. The mean score was 697.
Lawrence spends $19,500 per pupil a year, which is among the highest amounts per student in the county.
The Roosevelt School District, which has been threatened with a takeover by the state for its poor academic performance, also finished with 69.3 percent of students meeting state standards.
Michelle Lineal, Lawrence's assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction, does not feel the numbers accurately predict how students will do once they get to high school. If you look at student scores as they pass through an all-Regents high school, I think you will find that the scores do not mirror each other, she said. Last year, 93 percent of Lawrence High School students passed the English Regents exam.
The ELA results are broken down into levels 1 through 4, with Level 4 students showing superior performance, knowledge and skill for all standards. In Lawrence, 2.6 percent of fourth-graders scored at Level 1, showing minimal achievement of the standards and demonstrating no evidence of knowledge or skill in one or more of the standards; 28.1 percent scored at Level 2, demonstrating partial achievement and some knowledge and skill for each standard; 38.7 percent scored at Level 3, meeting all standards; and 30.6 percent scored at Level 4.
The students who scored at Levels 3 and 4 are considered to have met the state standards and are in line to pass the Regents exams and on their way to earning mandatory Regents diplomas.
The Number Five School did the best, with a mean score of 677 and 78.1 percent of the 64 fourth-grade students who took the test meeting the standards. The Number One School scored the lowest, with a mean score of 662 and 59.3 percent of the students achieving levels 3 or 4.
Ted Elsberg, a district resident who had a son and daughter graduate from the Lawrence schools, was very upset about the results. I think the scores unfortunately reflect a pattern of lower test scores, higher taxes and fiscal mismanagement, said Elsberg. This district should look for ways to improve education, like greater innovative programs.
The scores are divided into three populations: the general population mixed in with students with disabilities; children with disabilities; and the general population, excluding Special Education students.
I think it's important to look at the general student population numbers more, but our Special Education population is important to us, said Lineal.
According to Lineal, at least 20 percent of Lawrence's eighth-graders are in Special Education. They are attracted here because of the great Special Education programs we have, he said.
Number Six School Principal Eileen McCarthy thinks the numbers are skewed as a result of being broken down into different populations. The Number Six School's passing rate was 86 percent among the general population and 71 percent among the mixture of general population and students with disabilities. According to McCarthy, Special Education students had fewer accommodations than in the past, which could account for some of the results. An example of the modifications for Special Education accommodations, according to Larry Gleckler of the State Education Department, was not allowing students to have aides read to them during the reading portion of the test.
We're certainly very happy with our scores, said McCarthy. We're also very happy with the scores of the students with disabilities. We certainly do have a number of students with disabilities, and we are working hard for them.
According to the 2001-2002 New York State District Report Card/Comprehensive Information Report, 6.2 percent of students in Lawrence are categorized as English language learners, but McCarthy doesn't see this as an explanation for the low results. We certainly are enrolling more students with language needs, but I don't see a direct correlation, said McCarthy.
It's a challenge, but you have to meet those challenges, Elsberg said of the increase in English as a Second Language students.
Lineal, however, thinks the increasing number of students with limited English proficiency is a factor and makes for a tough challenge. We have a very changing population, she said. We have 14- and 15-year-olds coming to the high school trying to work to pass Regents who do not speak any English. We're trying to be very creative in coming up with programs to make sure they do well and pass.
Lineal met with all elementary-school principals and developed a plan that will be implemented immediately in preparation for next year. Part of the plan includes giving Developmental Reading Assessments (DRAs) to third- and fourth-graders in addition to the kindergartners, first- and second-graders who take them now. According to Lineal, this will help prepare students for reading comprehension. Sixty-six percent of fourth-grade testing is short-answer reading comprehension, so it is important that they are prepared for that, she said.
Hewlett-Woodmere results
In the Hewlett-Woodmere School District, 86.3 percent of fourth-graders passed the test, a ranking of 20th on the county list with a mean score of 684. The results also showed that 66.6 percent of the district's eighth-graders have met state standards Ñ 22nd on the list, with a mean score of 710. Hewlett-Woodmere spends $20,798 a year per pupil.
We're very pleased, said Dr. Charles Fowler, Hewlett-Woodmere superintendent. It's a focus that we put on reading and writing that makes the difference.
On the fourth-grade ELA exam, the district had .9 percent at Level 1, 12.9 percent at Level 2, 43.8 percent at Level 3 and 42.4 percent at Level 4. On the eighth-grade ELA tests, 1.1 percent of students scored at Level 1, 32.4 percent at Level 2, 49.3 percent at Level 3 and 17.3 percent at Level 4.
Despite the results, Fowler was perplexed that only 66.6 percent met the standards at the eighth-grade level, while 99 percent of last year's 11th-graders passed the English Regents exam. There may be a problem with the assessments themselves, and at the eighth-grade level there may be too many assessments, he said. The eighth-grade test is supposed to be a predictor of how kids will do in high school, and when you go from 66 percent to 99 percent it's not predicting anything.
Hewlett-Woodmere school board president Richard Braverman doesn't like the idea of the state-mandated tests. We would like to see our students do as well as they can on the standardized tests, but I have grave reservations about the importance placed on the tests, said Braverman. A student working up to his or her potential is far more important than how they do on a standardized test.
Braverman is also not a fan of the comparisons drawn from the tests. I don't like the comparisons because even if you compare within a school, you can't compare a fourth-grade class from year to year, because the comparison is not the same unless it's the same fourth-grade class, he said.
Fore more information on the results, go to www.emsc.nysed.gov/repcrd2003.
