By Tom Jordan
Not even Rockville Centre schools could avoid completely the downward trend that scores took statewide on the second round of math and English assessment tests given to New York students in the fourth and eighth grades. While the majority of fourth-graders exceeded state standards in math, one elementary school in the village showed a distinct decrease.
In what school administrators are calling an "instructional issue" that they say is being corrected, students at Riverside fell from 95 percent scoring in the "passing" categories last year in math to 40 percent this year. Rockville Centre's other school's results all showed at least 90 percent of students placing in the "passing" categories.
"We detected a problem last year, which has since been corrected," said Dr. William Johnson, superintendent of schools. "We believe some of the scores to be anomalous. The kids know the subject, but some of the ways we were directly preparing them for the exam, I think, left a lot to be desired. We're going to correct that."
Dr. Johnson would not elaborate as to what the specific issues for Riverside were.
Riverside is Rockville Centre's smallest school, with only 35 students in fourth grade last school year. Under the state's guidelines, 21 of the students need remediation in math.
The state believes students scoring in levels 1 and 2 on the assessment exams are not on target to meet graduation requirements being phased in. Students in levels 3 and 4 are thought to be on the right track to passing the five Regents exams that eventually will be required for graduation.
At Watson, every student who took the math exam passed. The percentages of students at Hewitt and Covert who passed the exam fluctuated slightly, from 94 and 93, respectively, last year to 92 percent at both this year. Wilson's success rate increased five points, up to 95 percent from 90.
Eighth-grade math results were about the same as last year as 70 percent of students scored at least 716 of a possible 882, but English results were off somewhat, with 72 percent passing, down from 78 percent a year ago. Both figures, however, easily surpassed statewide success rates of 40 for math and 45 for English.
"We would hope that math scores will improve in the future," said Meg Koch, president of the Rockville Centre Board of Education, "and I'm comfortable that the administration has made the appropriate adjustments. The sections in which students had difficulty are being addressed with both fourth and fifth-graders. But overall, we're very pleased with the results."
Dr. Johnson said his focus is more on the Sequential I Regents math test, which Rockville Centre gives to eighth-graders two weeks after the statewide assessment exam and which this year showed that nearly 90 percent of district students are meeting state criteria.
Ms. Koch also cited the district's showing on a science section of the fourth-grade exam, in which 93 percent of fourth-graders scored at or above criteria.
Aside from math, Riverside scores were in line with the district in other sections of the assessment, including English Language Arts and Science. Riverside's mean score of 674 in English was comparable to the district's 684. Eighty-seven percent of Riverside students met or exceeded standards in English, with 28 percent showing superior knowledge. The respective percentages for the district were 91 and 36, and the district said its mean score of 684 tied for fifth among Nassau County school systems.
"When you take into consideration how the students did on all three exams, and ask yourself how they did, you realize the kids are okay. Overall, I won't be completely satisfied until all of the students in the district are placing in levels three and four," said Dr. Johnson.
Eighth grade English results
Level 4 (739-830): Students consistently show thorough understanding of intermediate level written and oral text; Level 3 (701-738): Students show general understanding somewhat beyond the literal level of intermediate level written and oral text; Level 2 (662-700): Students show partial understanding of intermediate level written and oral text; Level 1 (527-661): Students show minimal understanding of intermediate level written and oral text
South Side Middle School
Level 4: 20 percent (51 students); Level 3: 52 percent (135 students); Level 2: 26 percent (68 students); Level 1: 2 percent (5 students)
Eight grade math results
Level 4 (760-822); Level 3 (716-759); Level 2 (681-715); Level 1 (517-680)
South Side Middle School
Level 4: 10 percent (27 students); Level 3: 60 percent (158 students); Level 2: 24 percent (64 students); Level 1: 5 percent (13 students)
Fourth grade math
Level 1 (678-810); Level 2 (637-677); Level 3 (602-636); Level 1 (448-601)
Covert
Level 4: 33 percent (16 students); Level 3: 59 percent (29 students); Level 2: 8 percent (4 students); Level 1: 0 percent (0 students)
Hewitt
Level 4: 46 percent (38 students); Level 3: 46 percent (38 students); Level 2; 8 percent (7 students); Level 1: 0 percent (0 students)
Riverside
Level 4: 3 percent (1 student); Level 3: 37 percent (13 students); Level 2: 51 percent (18 students); Level 1: 9 percent (3 students)
Watson
Level 4: 69 percent (25 students); Level 3: 31 percent (11 students); Level 2: 0 percent (0 students); Level 1: 0 percent (0 students)
Wilson
Level 4: 23 percent (18 students); Level 3: 72 percent (56 students); Level 2: 5 percent (4 students); Level 1: 0 percent (0 students)
