Eighth-grade scores drop on state exams

ALBANY (Oct. 24, 2001) - Scores were low again this year on the state's eighth-grade English and math tests, showing a need to pay more attention to middle schools, state Education Commissioner Richard P. Mills said Tuesday.

On the eighth-grade math test, 39 percent of students met the standards by scoring in the top two levels, down from 40 percent the year before.

The success rate on the eighth-grade English test was the same as last year: 45 percent met the standards.

The Education Department will hold a series of regional conferences on middle schools starting in February. The conferences will focus on what high-performing middle schools are doing right.

"Some schools clearly have found a way to do this, and everybody else needs to learn from them," Mills said.

In contrast to the eighth-grade scores, scores on the state's fourth-grade tests have shown improvement. On the fourth-grade math test, 69 percent of students met the standards, up from 65 percent last year. Earlier this year, state education officials announced 60 percent of fourth-graders met standards on the English test, up from 59 percent the year before.

Mills said schools doing well on the tests have a strong curriculum, teaching practices and leadership.

In addition, successful middle schools do not teach subjects in isolation, Deputy Commissioner James Kadamus said. They might have students write research papers about the arts, or use music to reinforce math, he said.

Mills said improving test results in the eighth grade will require changes in the grades leading up to it.

Weakest areas
Scores on the eighth-grade tests were lowest in the state's five largest cities, but they also lagged in other school districts with high poverty rates.

In "high need" small cities and suburbs, 29 percent of eighth-graders met the standards on the math test and 35 percent met the standards on the English test.

In high-poverty rural areas, 39 percent met the standards on the math test and 41 percent met the standards on the English test.

Scores varied in area districts, but city school districts generally had a smaller percentage of students meeting the standards.

In Schenectady, 20 percent of eighth-graders met the standards on the math test, and 27 percent of eighth-graders met the standards on the English test. That compares to 28 percent on the eighth-grade math test last year and 30 percent on the eighth-grade English test last year.

The English results did not include the scores for Oneida Middle School, one of three middle schools in Schenectady.

On the fourth-grade math test, 66 percent of students in Schenectady met the standards, close to the state average for high-need small cities. Last year, 58 percent of the students met the fourth-grade math standards.

Strong performances
Education Department officials listed several area districts where eighth-grade performance was high, including wealthy districts such as Niskayuna and North Colonie. But some less-wealthy districts had relatively strong performance, including Averill Park, East Greenbush and Scotia-Glenville, Kadamus said.

In Scotia-Glenville, 56 percent of students met the standards on the eighth-grade English test and 62 percent met the standards on the eighth-grade math test. Last year, 53 percent of the Scotia-Glenville eighth-grade students met the English standards, and 64 percent met the eighth-grade math standards.

Joe Ann Barton, the district's director of curriculum and instruction, said teachers in Scotia-Glenville do not "teach to the test."

"We're trying to work really hard on making sure the instruction students are receiving is relevant to them," Barton said.

She said teachers emphasize writing and reading throughout the curriculum. Teacher training focuses on team teaching and interdisciplinary lessons, as well as how to teach critical thinking and problem solving, she said.

Early warning
Mills said the eighth-grade tests are designed to show whether students are being prepared to take the high school Regents exams, which are a graduation requirement.

Some teachers have said eighth-graders are overwhelmed by tests, but Mills said he doesn't see that as a problem. All eighth-graders must take state tests in English, math, science and social studies. Some also take state tests in foreign language and technology.

Mills said low expectations for middle school students could be one reason why most eighth-graders aren't meeting the standards.

Another problem is a lack of qualified teachers. Roughly one-fourth of the math teachers in New York state did not major in math in college, Mills said.

New York State United Teachers, the state's largest teachers union, said more affluent school districts were for the most part meeting the standards.

"Closing the performance gap and giving every child a fair chance to meet the Regents' standards requires making education funding a priority - even at a time when the state is facing new budgetary challenges," said Antonia Cortese, first vice president of NYSUT.

Economic problems resulting from the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks have put in question how much state aid school districts can expect, both this year and in the future.

Meeting the problem
But Mills noted that over the past four years, state aid to schools has increased by $3.5 billion. He said schools cannot wait for better economic times to improve student performance.

"You don't need massive amounts of money to make certain that there is a strong curriculum. You need to think about what it is we're asking children to learn," Mills said. "Strong teaching practices are not something you send away for, that you buy. . . . We have to think our way out of these problems."

Students took the tests last spring, but schools just got the results this month. Educators have complained the results on the tests come too late to use them in deciding which students needed extra help the following year.

Mills said the results will come faster under a new contract with testing company CTB/McGraw-Hill. The results should be completed within a month after teachers finish their local scoring, which is done shortly after students take the tests.

Albany -- Eighth-graders' performance on English, math tests sparks call to improve achievement

By RICK KARLIN, Times Union Staff writer
First published: Wednesday, October 24, 2001

With flat or declining test scores, New York's middle schools are about to take center stage, and some heat, in the push for higher academic achievement.

"This has to be changed,'' state Education Commissioner Richard Mills said Tuesday in announcing stagnant eighth-grade test scores in math and English for the third year in a row. That's in contrast with the modest but steady gains made by fourth-graders and high school students.

"We've put a lot of stress, emphasis I think is a better word, on the elementary grades,'' Mills said. "The middle grades have had less attention.''

The tests were administered in spring 2001. Statewide, 45 percent of eighth-graders passed the English test in 2001 and 2000, down from 48 percent in 1999. Mean scores on the tests are almost unchanged.

In math, 39 percent passed, down from 40 percent in 2000 but better than the 38 percent in 1999. Mean scores were almost unchanged.

Meanwhile, fourth-graders in the latest round of tests continued their slow climb. Sixty-nine percent passed the math test, up from 65 percent the year before, and 60 percent passed English compared to 58.7 the previous year.

To help speed improvements, Mills is planning a series of regional symposiums to allow middle school teachers and administrators to brainstorm ways of improving student performance.

It's part of an overall attempt to put a sharper public focus on middle schools, similar to that which followed the highly publicized elementary grade reading tests and the phasing in of mandatory high school Regents exams during the past half decade.

"There was breakfast table conversation, dinner table conversation about the fourth-grade tests,'' Mills said. For the middle grades, he said, "I don't think we've been able to get that same level of attention.''

As any teacher or parent of an adolescent knows, middle school years are difficult. It's a period when a youngster's hormones are kicking in and they are starting to break away from the kind of parental control they've had in the earlier years.

Additionally, students go from having one elementary teacher all day to a number of subject teachers and they are often moving to larger schools.

Still, Mills noted, middle school students in other countries often out perform their peers in the U.S. "We seem to be quick to make excuses and expect performance to be flat or low in middle grades,'' he said.

As is the case with other tests, scores among individual middle schools varied widely, often associated with the affluence or poverty of the community.

Still, there were some pleasant surprises. State education officials cited the Mohonasen, Schuylerville and Stillwater school systems for good scores despite substantial numbers of needy kids.

Schuylerville's eighth-graders, for instance, turned in mean scores of 721 for math and 706 in English, higher than expected for a school where approximately 11 percent of the kids qualify for free or reduced price lunches.

"It's a combination of things,'' Tom Martin, principal of Schuylerville Middle-High School said of what they do to prepare students. For one thing, seventh-graders take English and math tests that preview what they will face the next year. Results are then run through a software program that allows teachers to pinpoint areas in which individual students have trouble.

To get them up to speed, students with low scores can then take after-school tutoring from 3 to 5 p.m., and there are late buses to get them home. "School is basically in session now until 5 o'clock,'' Martin said.

Such efforts cost money, however, and Mills offered little hope in the way of funding increases this year. A sagging economy and the fiscal shock of Sept. 11 has meant that school systems statewide will probably not be receiving the generous annual funding increases they've had for the last several years.

"You don't need massive amounts of money to have a strong curriculum,'' Mills said. "We have to think our way out of these problems.''

The latest round of test scores also comes amid complaints from superintendents around the state about delays in releasing last year's eighth-grade English results, which were supposed to be out earlier in the fall. They were held back, however, after it was found that the company that designs the tests, CTB/McGraw Hill, had an error in the scoring.

Mills said the next round of tests will include some changes to prevent similar mix-ups.

Scores Show a Drop-Off

4th-grade English, math results rise; 8th grade stagnant

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