Port Washington Holds Steady in NYS Test Scores

When it comes to meeting state Education Department academic goals, Port Washington Public Schools is holding steady despite tightening school budgets and new state mandates.

That’s according to a report revealing English and math test scores for elementary and middle school students recently released by the state’s education department. 

Here's a sampling of how Port Washington fared with regard to meeting or exceeding proficiency standards in English and math exams.

"The Port Washington School District continues to exceed the overall state average and Long Island average on ELA [English Language Arts] and math assessments," said Interum Superintendent Dr. Kathleen Mooney.

"Student performance was stronger in math than in ELA this past year. However, in 2012, the district's students demonstrated an increase in achieving proficiency Levels 3 and 4 on the ELA in grades 3, 5, 6 and 7," Mooney added, referring to meeting proficiency standards (Level 3) or exceeding proficiency standards (Level 4).

"The grade 4 ELA results were very similar to the 2011 grade 4 ELA results," Mooney said. "There was a slight decline in the grade 8 ELA results from 2011. The majority of our comparator districts also saw a slight decline in their grade 8 ELA results this year. In addition, a variety of other factors such as changes in test format and complexity as well as increased test length impacted these assessment results."  

"The 2012-2013 ELA and math assessments will be aligned with the Common Core Learning Standards," she noted. "This means that the test format and content will change yet again. Despite these anticipated changes and some possible budget limitations, the Port Washington School District is committed to providing our students with the academic rigor and high quality instruction required to meet these new standards." 

See the full state report for a school-by-school breakdown, and to see how other neighboring districts performed. The analysis from 2011 is also available.

Newsday reports Long Island schools outperformed the rest of the state. 

Incremental gains were seen statewide, according to the state education department. The latest report shows that students scored slightly higher this year in both the English and math exams, compared with last year, and that there was a small increase in the percentage of grades 3-8 students across the state who met or exceeded the proficiency standard on both exams.

However, state education officials seem to be setting sights on bigger gains. 

Board of Regents Chancellor Merryl H. Tisch said in a statement that "too many of our students, especially students of color, English Language Learners and special education students, are currently not on a course for college and career readiness. That’s why we are continuing to press forward with critical reforms to ensure all of our kids are ready for college and careers. In the fall we will begin to phase in a new, more challenging, content rich curriculum and continue to press for the implementation of a rigorous teacher evaluation system in every district across the state."

In looking at students in grades 3-8 across the state, the education department is reporting that 55.1 percent of students met or exceeded the English proficiency standard, up from 52.8 in 2011. In addition, 64.8 percent met or exceeded the standard in math, up from 63.3 percent last year.

It is expected that Dr. Nicholas A. Stirling, the district's assistant superintendent for curriculum, instruction and assessment, will deliver a presentation on the results during the academic year.