By Andrew Coen
, local schools are feeling the effects of needing to perform well in all categories and while high marks were given to most Five Towns public schools in the annual New York State Department of Education report cards released in early May, two Lawrence schools were listed as needing improvement.
Lawrence High School and Lawrence Middle School were listed on the report cards as not meeting adequate yearly progress in the report cards due to some students in various categories at the secondary level for not having the required 95 percent participation rate on standardized exams set forth by the state. However, the district was far from alone in being cited for needing improvement with the state accountability list also including schools in the high performing districts such as Great Neck, Bethpage and Huntington. Hewlett High School was taken off the list of schools needing improvement a year after a reporting error caused them to be included accidentally, according to district officials.
Lawrence assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction Dr. Vicki Karant addressed the report cards at the May 9 school board meeting and described the district as being in good standing despite the high school and middle school needing improvement in performance. She pointed out that all elementary schools in the district have met adequate yearly progress with a near perfect percentage of students meeting state standards on some of the exams.
The Lawrence Middle School was reported by the state as not meeting adequate yearly progress due to 8th grade students with disabilities not meeting the standards on the math and English Language Arts (ELA) exams, while Lawrence High School was cited for not improving adequately with the ELA and math exams for all students. Karant said that she feels many students at the middle school level who enter the district from other countries do not have enough experience in "rich vocabulary," which can make taking the ELA exams especially daunting.
"We are addressing that as energetically as we can," said Karant at the meeting of how they are working hard to improve students vocabulary at the middle school level.
Karant also pointed out that low performance on state tests at the middle school level is not un-common and that educators around the country are seeking ways to combat this. "[Our middle school performance] is not something to be proud of, but it is a nationally known fact that middle school scores tend to be suppressed," said Karant.
In a phone interview, Karant said she along with middle school principal Dr. Mark Kavarsky have in the last year instituted a school-wide literacy initiative where they are emphasizing the importance of reading in every subject as a way to improve performance on the ELA exams. Karant also said they have assigned case managers to all at-risk learners and set benchmarks as a way to improve results at the middle school level. "We have made sure that we've identified every child that needs academic intervention services," said Karant.
The report card also said Lawrence High School has a 77 percent graduation rate, but Karant was quick to point out that even though 23 percent of the students from the 2001 cohort did not receive diplomas, most of them have not dropped out and have remained in school. She also pointed out that the state is in the process of phasing in the new minimum regents requirements from 55 to 65 and that many students scored between 55 and 64, which allows them to get a local diploma.
The report card also highlighted the district's spending per pupil which for Lawrence is listed at just over $24,000 per child, the highest in Nassau County. District officials have pointed out that the spending per pupil number is skewed due to the high amount of money spent on the high number of non public school students who reside in the area and are entitled to state mandated special education and transportation services. The number was a surprise to Inwood's Desiree Fusco, who recently moved to the area from out of state. "I was appalled to see Lawrence has the highest per pupil spending," said Fusco during the May 9 district 15 school board meeting.
Hewlett-Woodmere report card findings
The Hewlett-Woodmere district was reported by the state as being in good standing with all schools meeting adequate yearly progress. The positive report comes one year after a reporting error caused Hewlett High School to cited for not meeting adequate yearly progress even though they had far exceeded the minimum participation of test takers.
Susan Pratt, Hewlett-Woodmere assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction, said in a phone interview she was happy that both Ogden and Hewlett Elementary Schools had 100 percent participation rates on the state exams and that the regents diplomas at the high school continued to rise with 91 percent receiving the degree.
"As our district should, we met all the state objectives," said Pratt. "When you check over time the achievements are consistent and if anything moving up."
Pratt said the district addressed the reporting error for high school participation from a year ago by having extra checks and balances in place to make sure the participation rates were accurately accounted for. She said the increasing emphasis on standardized testing, which for the first time this year, is conducted for students in grades 3 to 8, has made life extremely challenging for administrators and teachers.
"I think we are frustrated with the time and energy being spent [on standardized testing] that could have been spent in the classroom," said Pratt. "To do this every year really doesn't do a whole lot of good for high performing districts."
Other notables on the report card were Hewlett High School having amongst the highest percentage of students attending four-year colleges at 91 percent. The district's spending per pupil is listed as the fifth highest in Nassau County, at a little over $21,000 per child.
For further information on the report card findings, log onto www.nysed.gov.
Comments about this story? acoen@liherald.com or 516-569-4000 ext. 210.
