Mixed results for LI school test scores

The percentage of Long Island students in grades 3-8 passing state English tests given this spring slid to 64.2 percent, marking the second straight year those scores fell in the region.

Math test results for Island students in the same grades rose to 74.6 percent, the state Education Department said Monday.

The latest test scores hold extra significance for teachers because they will be used as a base for evaluating educators' effectiveness. The new evaluations are expected to initially affect about 52,000 teachers and other school workers statewide, including 7,000 on the Island.

The state still is working out details of the evaluation process. A state teachers' union has challenged it in court, contending that a provision allowing districts to base up to 40 percent of teachers' ratings on results of standardized tests violates the law.

On the Island, the overall proportion of students in grades 3-8 deemed proficient in English was down from 66.7 percent in the 2009-10 school year; in math, the passing percentage was 72.6 percent the year prior.

Both state and local authorities said the latest decline in English scores might be explained, in part, by the fact that tests were longer, with more multiple-choice and essay questions. Albany officials have asserted that the lengthened tests, coupled with more intensive teacher training, should help raise standards and more accurately measure individual performance.

"These results underscore the urgent need for New York to continue to aggressively move forward with the implementation of the Regents' reform agenda," said Merryl H. Tisch of Manhattan, chairwoman of the state Board of Regents.

Some teachers reported, however, that younger students appeared exhausted from taking tests for up to 21/2 hours.

"These are little kids, and many of our teachers complain of fatigue," said William Johnson, superintendent of Rockville Centre schools and a former president of the New York Council of School Superintendents.

Statewide, LI scored highestAs usual, the Island's results, on average, far surpassed those for the state as a whole. In English, 52.8 percent of students statewide passed in last spring's testing, compared with 53.2 percent in 2010. Statewide figures for math were 63.3 percent last spring, compared with 61 percent in 2010. Still, wide disparities persisted between well-off districts and poorer districts.

In Jericho, Syosset and Great Neck, for example, more than 90 percent of fifth-graders passed the latest math tests. In contrast, passing rates were less than 65 percent in such districts as Brentwood and Uniondale, and less than 55 percent in others, including Longwood and Wyandanch.

"There's always room for improvement," said Rick Belyea, a Brentwood spokesman. "We're still looking at the numbers, but if you look at them right out of the box, you already start looking for places to improve."

State education officials also contend that passing rates among special-education students remain unacceptably low: 14.5 percent in the latest round of English testing statewide; 26.9 percent in math. Many such students take extra instruction during the summer in an effort to help them catch up.

At Jerusalem Avenue School in Bellmore, about 160 students in grades 3-5 are getting six weeks of intensive instruction sponsored by Nassau BOCES. Karen Ellis, the agency's executive director for special education, said one aim is to accustom students to taking tests similar to those administered by the state.

"It's a scary thing, not only for them, but for their parents," Ellis said.

State raised testing standardsPassing percentages dropped much less sharply during the latest round of testing this past spring than in the 2009-10 school year. However, that was expected because the state, following the 2010 round of testing, substantially raised score levels required for students to be deemed proficient. The higher standard resulted in a big reduction in students rated proficient in 2010, compared with 2009.

State education officials have said that, statistically speaking, the higher standard means that eighth-graders who now attain proficiency on English and math tests have a 75 percent probability of being prepared for college by the time they finish high school.