By Cindy J. Roth
Although the Lynbrook School District saw mostly slight declines in its student passing rates on Regents exams, the district still remains the strongest of the three villages, with the highest overall passing rates, which are well above the state's averages. Malverne School District, which has one of the lowest student Regents diploma graduating rates in the state, saw increases in the number of students passing six Regent exams and only slight decreases in two others.
Exam score highlights
In East Rockaway, the largest Regents passing percentage dip was seen in the English exam. In 2001, 85 percent of students passed, scoring 65 or higher, compared with last year's 73 percent. The number of students scoring 85 or higher, however, rose in 2002 to 38 percent, up 20 percent from 2001. Malverne's English scores increased 4 points to 73 percent passing, with 28 percent scoring 85 or better, up from 16 percent in 2001.
In East Rockaway, 92 percent of students passed the U.S. history and government Regents last year, compared with 74 percent in 2001, but the percentage of students scoring 85 or higher dropped from 26 percent to 13 percent. The global history and geography Regents saw passing rate declines, with 77 percent of students passing, down 17 percent from 2001. The number of students scoring 85 or higher also dropped, to 16 percent, down 19 percentage points.
Lynbrook saw its only passing rate increase in the U.S. history and government Regents, up 5 percentage points to 92 percent. However, the number of students scoring 85 or higher decreased by 10 percent, to 47 percent.
The Malverne School District made strides in the sciences, with a 22 percent increase in the number of students passing the earth science exam, from 54 percent in 2001 to 76 percent last year. The percentage of students passing the biology Regent is at 96 percent, up from 77 percent in 2001. In Lynbrook the biology Regents passing rate was 95 percent, down 3 percent, but there was a 25 percent increase in students scoring 85 or higher.
Lynbrook School District's only test with a severe passing rate decrease was the sequential math I exam, in which it dropped from 83 percent in 2001 to 44 percent in 2002. Also, no students scored 85 or high in 2002, compared with 45 percent in 2001.
High School Principal Santo Barbarino said the 2002 test results reflect the performance of students who took the exam in January 2002, compared with the rest of the scores, which are from June testing dates. The January test takers represent a small population of students who have experienced difficulty in math and were taking the exam for a second or third time because they had failed it in the past.
Malverne's sequential math II passing rate rose to 65 percent from 54 percent in 2001. "Kids have been going to extra help, but also many of the classes, particularly in math, we have labs for," said Malverne High School Principal Glenda Good. "Instead of meeting five times a week, they are meeting seven times. For kids whose skills aren't that strong, this has really helped a lot."
The changing face of the Regents
In 1996, the New York State Education Department developed a plan to raise the education bar statewide. As part of the plan, all students, starting with incoming ninth-graders in 2001, would be required to pass five Regents exams with a minimum score of 65 to obtain a high-school diploma.
In the past, students could graduate from high school with either a local diploma or a Regents diploma. Local diplomas did not require students to pass any Regents. A Regents diploma required students to pass eight Regents exams, two each in math, social studies and science, and one each in English and a foreign language.
Starting with the graduating class of 2005, students can obtain either a Regents diploma or a Regents-with-advanced-designation diploma. The Regents diploma, which replaces the local diploma, requires that students pass five Regents, one each in English, math, global studies, U.S. history and science. The Regents with advanced designation is awarded to students who pass eight Regents tests -- additional math and science exams and either another foreign-language test or five units of occupational studies or the arts.
As part of the plan, the state also phased in new Regents exams in all five core testing areas, beginning in 1999. The last exams to be revamped were the math A and B Regents, which will replace the three sequential math exams. The math B exam was first administered in June 2001, and the math A exam will be introduced next year.
Regents fail-prevention
Across Long Island, 69 percent of seniors graduated with a Regents diploma last year, 15 percent more than the state average. Nassau County has made strides in Regents diploma attainment rates. In 1997 only 56 percent received them, and last year that number climbed to 74 percent.
Sixty percent of East Rockaway students received Regents diplomas last year, 76 percent of Lynbrook students and 47 percent of Malverne students. There are only 12 districts on Long Island -- six in Nassau -- where less than 50 percent of students earn Regents diplomas.
While Malverne is among the poorest-performing schools when it comes to Regents diploma graduates, the district did see a significant increase from 2001, when only 33 percent of students graduated with a Regents diploma. Principal Good said state-mandated academic intervention services that instituted additional student lab periods for students who appear to be at risk of failing the Regents have helped tremendously. Also very helpful is the district's Regents-assistance program, which consists of voluntary Regents-review classes.
Student who fail a Regents exam but pass the academic course must simply retake the exam until they pass. All three school districts are hopeful that the pre-emptive extra help programs and additional lab courses built into students' schedules will keep the number of students failing the Regents low or non-existent.
Unfortunately, additional labs take time away from electives students would normally take. "[The labs are] obviously interfering with that," said Barbarino. "That's one of the downsides of the mandates. It takes away the ability for students to be involved in areas of interest."
Focus for next year
Both Barbarino and East Rockaway High School Principal William Fortgang are looking to target math next year, when the new math A Regents will be introduced. Math A is taken by most students after a year and a half of instruction, and math B after three years.
Good is putting the district's emphasis on English, in which students have already made marked improvement over the years. "In all state assessments, writing is a key component," she said. "Even in math, [the students] can't just arrive at an answer. They need to explain how they arrived at an answer."
Last year and continuing this year, the Malverne district has told teachers to mimic the state assessments' testing style with their own tests. Good said this methods is far from "teaching for the test," but rather gives the students some continuity when it comes to testing. "It gives the children the opportunity to be prepared for the type of test questions and the test's setup," said Good. "Once that factor is removed, teachers can focus on concepts and content material."
All three principals expressed concerns about the pending budget cuts and their impact on students, but said they will not make it an excuse for poor student performance next year.
