Test results reveal growing disparity
Fourth-grade scores
steadily improving even as eighth-grade scores continue on
downward trend
By RICK
KARLIN, Times
Union Staff writer
First published:
Thursday, July 11, 2002
While fourth-graders have steadily improved their English
scores on statewide exams for the past few years, results for
eighth-graders have fallen since 1999, according to results of
the latest round of tests released Wednesday by the state
Education Department.
"Right across the board, year by year, it's gone up in
elementary school," Education Commissioner Richard Mills
said of the fourth-grade scores.
Passing rates for the fourth-grade reading and writing exam
statewide have gone from 48 percent in 1999 to almost 62
percent this year.
For eighth-graders, though, the passing rate has dropped
from 48 percent in 1999 to 44 percent this year.
"This is a very serious issue," Mills said of the
poor middle school performance. "There are fewer students
meeting the standards now than in 1999."
The state plans to identify those middle schools that have
raised their scores and use them as examples for how to
improve statewide. Testing experts hope to identify those
schools by this fall and then schedule meetings and visits
with the successful schools in various regions of the state.
Overall, state officials put a positive spin on the test
results, noting several encouraging trends.
In both elementary and middle grades, fewer students were
in the lowest of four scoring categories, Level I.
"People have been able to move children out of Level
I," Mills said.
That may be the result of concerted efforts to bring the
slowest students up to speed and a state mandate that
essentially forces schools to offer extra help to kids with
the lowest scores.
Albany's School 18 was among those showing such
improvement, going from 17 percent of fourth-graders at Level
I last year to none this year.
The school offered extra help to students and also broke
out fourth-graders into small homogeneous groups based on
scores of third-grade tests the Albany district administers to
its students, noted Principal Ken Cioffi. "We did a lot
of data analysis," Cioffi said of how teachers examined
the third-grade scores to help configure the fourth-grade
classes.
"We've learned a little bit more each year about how
to refine things," Superintendent Lonnie Palmer said.
He noted that Schools 18 and 20 were among only 10
statewide that scored significantly better than other schools
with high poverty rates. Both schools have student poverty
rates of more than 90 percent, according to federal free lunch
guidelines.
Additionally, Palmer said, the city's middle schools went
against the state's downward trend. The percentage of students
at Level I in Hackett fell from 24 percent to 12 percent. At
Livingston, the percentage dropped from 36 to 25 percent.
Both middle schools have high numbers of minority students.
Statewide, the achievement gap between white and minority
students narrowed a bit last year, Mills said.
Still, there are plenty of schools struggling to make the
grade, including Albany's New Covenant Charter School, where
85 percent of fourth-graders failed the test.
Wednesday's test scores became instant campaign fodder in
the gubernatorial race, with Democratic candidate H. Carl
McCall seizing on the poor middle school scores to attack
Republican Gov. George Pataki.
"The real story of these test scores is not our
children failing the test. It is that Gov. Pataki has failed
our children," said McCall, the state comptroller.
Pataki spokesman Joe Conway responded by noting that McCall
served as president of the New York City Board of Education
during a period when social promotion -- the practice of
moving kids to the next grade regardless of their scores --
was rampant.
"He has already failed the test when it comes to
education," Conway said of McCall.
Former federal housing secretary Andrew Cuomo, who is
challenging McCall for the Democratic nomination, could not be
reached late Wednesday.
*****************
Eighth-grade math scores on the rise
Albany--
Commissioner celebrates success, but more work remains
By ALAN WECHSLER / Times
Union, Staff
writer
First published:
Saturday, September 14, 2002
Eighth-graders posted dramatic gains in math scores, but
more than half still are failing standardized tests,
according to results released by the state Education
Department on Friday.
Middle school math scores rose 8 percentage points this
year after four stagnant years, with 48 percent passing
compared with 39 percent.
The number of students at the lowest achievement rung,
Level I, has fallen significantly during the last four
years, state Education Commissioner Richard Mills said.
"This is the first time we have seen real gains in
middle-school achievement," he said.
Fourth-grade math scores fell 1 points, with 68 percent
passing this year. But fewer students -- 7 percent -- were
in the lowest level, a steady improvement of almost 3 points
since 1999.
Last year, Mills told school officials to focus on the
middle grades after several years of stagnant eighth-grade
test scores. On Friday, he declared a victory of sorts,
saying the scores went up thanks to better teacher training,
curriculum improvements and individual attention to children
who needed extra help.
The test results showed that nearly 20 percent of
students statewide -- about 40,000 eighth-graders -- are in
Level I and subsequently at risk of not being able to meet
the standards needed to graduate. But that number is down
from 26 percent a year ago and 29 percent in 1999.
Meanwhile, race continues to play a role in test scores.
Sixty-two percent of white students passed the eighth grade
math test. Sixty-seven percent of Asians passed the test,
but 21 percent of black students and 23 percent of Hispanics
passed. Both black and Hispanic students, however, had
posted gains over the previous year.
"This vast difference illustrates why the Regents
are so concerned about the gap and why we need to close
it," Mills said.
In the Capital Region, school superintendents said the
scores showed steady improvement in their districts.
Albany Superintendent Lonnie Palmer said nearly all
public schools in the city achieved scores that were the
same or higher than last year.
"I want to make sure the word gets out: We're
getting better," he said. "Are we satisfied with
that? No, because we want to rival our suburban
counterparts."
In Cohoes, Superintendent Charles Dedrick said their
scores were 6 points ahead of a goal they had set a year
earlier.
He attributed the improvement to making sure math
teachers were spending more time teaching topics that were
on the tests.
"We're teaching them math according to the standards
given to us by the state Education Department," he
said.
*****************
Eighth-graders record strong math test gains
Middle school pupils in Sch'dy fail to reach average
performance level
"[Math scores are] not at a high level where [they]
should be, but [they are] higher."
Richard Mills
Education commissioner
By MARY MARTIALAY
Gazette
Reporter
ALBANY - Eighth-grade math students made strong gains on
statewide tests for the first time, while fourth-grade math
results dropped slightly this year, Education Commissioner
Richard Mills said Friday.
Schenectady fourth- and eighth-graders followed state
trends. However, middle school students still did not reach
the average state performance level, and elementary students
posted a slightly larger drop than the state overall.
Schenectady Superintendent John Falco said the district
does not yet know why fourth-grade scores dropped, although
it will review its math program. And while he was pleased
the middle school scores rose, they are still "nowhere
near where we need to be."
In the Albany city district, where scores rose almost
across the board, Superintendent Lonnie Palmer attributed
gains to years of improvements like the full-day
kindergarten and prekindergarten programs, and more rigorous
analysis of data, allowing the district to focus its
efforts.
State officials took some satisfaction in the results.
"This is the fourth time we've sat around this table
and talked about the math scores, and it's always been
flat," Mills said at a news conference. It's not at a
high level where it should be, but it is higher."
The state and school districts look at the raw scores,
with a top score of 800, and at how many students fall
within each of four levels of achievement set by the state.
Level 1 students do not meet state standards. Level 2
students meet some standards. Level 3 students meet the
standards. And level 3 students exceed the standards.
Statewide, despite the gains, New York middle school
students still perform poorly on the test, with only 48
percent of students meeting or exceeding state standards.
And while statewide elementary results fell by 1.5
percentage points, two-thirds of fourth-graders met or
exceeded the state standards.
Mills encouraged
Mills said he was encouraged to see eighth-grade scores
going up and students at level 1 dropping 6.9 percentage
points to 19.5 percent of students, the first dramatic
decline in the four years the test has been given.
And level 3 and 4 students, who meet and exceed the
standards, rose over 8 percentage points, to 47.7 percent of
students.
There was good news for fourth-graders as well. Although
the scores dropped slightly, the number of students failing
to meet state standards also continued to drop - for the
fourth straight year - from 8.5 percent last year to 7.2
percent this year.
But none of the changes in statewide fourth-grade scores
was dramatic.
New York City had some strong gains, cutting the
percentage of students who failed to meet the standard in
both fourth and eighth grade.
Racial gap
Statewide, blacks and Hispanics were still substantially
less likely to meet the standards than whites and Asians.
Among eighth-graders, only 8.6 percent of whites fail to
meet the standards. That number rises to 39.8 percent for
blacks.
Falco said he expects elementary schools to raise their
scores next year. And he thinks the middle schools will hold
steady or build on their gains.
To understand the fall in fourth-grade scores, the
district will review teacher training, curriculum, and the
materials in the math program it adopted three years ago.
Ten of 11 elementary schools in Schenectady saw some drop
in scores, amounting to 1.7 percent for the district
overall. Only Woodlawn Elementary School posted a 1-point
gain to an average score of 643. At the other end of the
spectrum, King Math, Science, Technology and Invention
Magnet School saw a 19-point decline, from an average score
of 661 to 642 in one year.
Still, only 5 percent of King students failed to meet the
standard, as opposed to 23 percent of Hamilton Elementary
School students.
On the eighth-grade test, all three middle schools had
some gain. Overall, the middle schools raised their average
score from 685 to 692. Nonetheless, fully 76.2 percent of
eighth-grade students failed to meet either all or some of
the standards.
Trial-basis test
Falco said he hoped a new in-house standardized test may
shed light on gaps in student knowledge. In the next few
weeks, the district will administer the Test of New York
State Standards to fourth- and eighth-graders. Falco said
the district is trying the test, free of charge, on a trial
basis. He said it may prove to be better than the in-house
test the district has been using. Palmer said he thinks the
Albany schools will also hold their ground. In the next two
years, he hopes to pull both middle schools off a state list
of failing schools. To do that, they would have to repeat
this year's 9-point gain for the next two years. At the
fourth grade level, he thinks Arbor Hill Elementary School
will be off the list next year. Arbor Hill established such
strong goals this year that they will only have to maintain
their scores next year to get off the list.
