By Brian Zanzonico and Jason Scheer
According to figures released by the State Education Department last Wednesday - a day after the statewide school budget vote - the number of West Hempstead eighth-graders passing the English test rose from 53 percent last year to 69 percent this year.
"That's quite a jump," said West Hempstead Superintendent Dr. Carol Eisenberg. "But we still want to do better."
The proportion of Malverne eighth-graders who passed the test increased from 62 percent last year to 75 percent this year.
The tests are graded at four levels. Level 1 indicates major academic difficulties, level 2 indicates that a student meets some of the standards, level 3 means that a student meets the standards, and level 4 shows outstanding achievement.
Among the 119 West Hempstead eighth-graders who completed the state elementary English exam, all of whom attend West Hempstead Middle School, 1.1 percent scored at level 1, 30 percent scored at level 2, 50.5 percent met the state standards, scoring at level 3, and 18.4 percent scored at level 4.
Among the 116 Malverne eighth-graders who took the exam, all of whom attend Howard T. Herber Middle School, .9 percent scored at level 1; 24.1 scored at level 2, 50 percent met the state standards at level 3, and 25 percent scored at level 4.
Fourth-graders on rise
in West Hempstead
West Hempstead fourth-graders also improved, with 88 percent passing the state English test. Last year, 83 percent passed. "It's fine," Eisenberg said. "We're on the right road."
In West Hempstead, 143 fourth-graders took the exam, with 3.5 percent scoring at level 1, 8.4 percent scoring at level 2, 65 percent scoring at level 3, and 23.1 percent achieving level 4.
Malverne fourth-graders
duplicate 2004 scores
Malverne fourth-graders repeated last year's performance, with 76 percent of students passing the test. The students attend Davison Avenue and Maurice W. Downing schools.
In Malverne, 119 fourth-graders took the state English test, and 2.5 percent scored at level 1, 21.8 percent at level 2, 40.3 percent at Level 3 and 35.3 percent at Level 4. They attend Cornwell Avenue and George Washington schools.
Dr. Mary Ellen Freeley, Superintendent of Malverne Schools, said the district will make every effort to improve its performance. "We are making plans to move forward to improve our results, and we believe our children are capable of working at a higher level," she said.
Deputy Superintendent Diane Scricca said the district is implementing several programs to improve performance. Students in grades K through 2 will take part, for the first time, in a Fundations Phonics program designed to make phonics more accessible. At the third- and fourth-grade levels, teachers have worked to eliminate curriculum gaps and to make instruction more effective.
Furthermore, this past year the district established a Balanced Literacy Committee of 20 teachers to identify problem areas and offer ideas on improvement. The district has also increased its utilization of data warehousing, which identifies specific deficiencies over a long period of time as well as throughout a large group of students.
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