The New York State Department of Education (NYSED) has released the results of the academic year 2006-7 Mathematics and English Language Arts (ELA) examinations for third through eighth grades. These tests measure student performance against standards that educators expect students to master in each of the grades from three through eight. At a recent board of education meeting, Interim Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment Dr. Charles Piemonte reported that the Port Washington district exceeds all of the federally mandated benchmarks. He said, "In general, the overall passing and mastery rates continue to increase."

The standardized tests are mandated by the federal No Child Left Behind Act and administered by the NYSED. Proponents of the law say that it was designed to provide a higher level of accountability, and in doing so can "close the achievement gap, offer more flexibility, give parents more options, and teach students based on what works." (Language paraphrased from the U.S. Department of Education's description.) The mandated "school report cards" are a critical part of implementing the law's accountability requirements. Critics point out that standardized testing is an imperfect indicator of both school and individual performance, provides a limited view of the whole child and the classroom experience, encourages teaching to the test, discourages creativity, and does not incorporate all (or even most) of the components that lead to success in school and in life. In spite of their limitations, however, the test results have become very important to the schools' constituencies.

Following are the district results, by school. Table 1 shows the scores for mathematics and Table 2 for English language arts. Note that this is only the second year that third, fifth, sixth and seventh graders are being tested; previously the tests included only fourth and eighth graders. Also note that the state raised the test standards this year, and because of changed federal regulations, more ELL (English Language Learners) took the regular tests. For these reasons, comparisons from this year to last are not valid.

	Third	Fourth	Fifth	Sixth	Seventh	Eighth
District Overall	92	90	90	90	90	81*
Guggenheim	87	94	87	n/a	n/a	n/a
John J. Daly	97	78	83	n/a	n/a	n/a
John P. Sousa	96	97	91	n/a	n/a	n/a
Manorhaven	81	87	92	n/a	n/a	n/a
South Salem	98	92	96	n/a	n/a	n/a
Weber M.S.	n/a	n/a	n/a	90	90	82*

The source for all data is the New York State Department of Education web site. n/a=not applicable. *The difference between these scores is not explained.

	Third	Fourth	Fifth	Sixth	Seventh	Eighth
District Overall	83	89	85	83	82	81*
Guggenheim	75	90	84	n/a	n/a	n/a
John J. Daly	96	77	76	n/a	n/a	n/a
John P. Sousa	87	95	94	n/a	n/a	n/a
Manorhaven	72	83	85	n/a	n/a	n/a
South Salem	87	97	85	n/a	n/a	n/a
Weber M.S.	n/a	n/a	n/a	83	82	82*

The source for all data is the New York State Department of Education web site. n/a=not applicable. *The difference between these scores is not explained.

Tables 3 and 4 compare the Port Washington School District's results with the county and the state as a whole.

	Third	Fourth	Fifth	Sixth	Seventh	Eighth
District Overall	92	90	90	90	90	81
Nassau County	95	93	90	86	83	79
NY State	85	80	76	71	66	59

Mathematics results for Port Washington exceeded those for the state as a whole. In general, our district's results were comparable with the county as a whole. According to New York State Education Commissioner Richard Mills, the statewide achievement in Mathematics Grade 3 through 8 has improved this year, most notably in middle school, and among black and Hispanic students, as well as those with disabilities.

	Third	Fourth	Fifth	Sixth	Seventh	Eighth
District Overall	83	89	85	83	82	81
Nassau County	83	87	83	80	75	77
NY State	67	68	68	63	58	57

Port Washington scored significantly higher than the state as a whole in the ELA tests, and in all but third grade somewhat higher than the county. (Editor's note: The state does not provide information as to the statistical significance of score differences, but it is likely that a difference of one or two points is not statistically significant.)

Because the community has in the past expressed strong interest in how Port Washington test scores compared with neighboring schools, the Port News depicts these results in Table 5. It must be pointed out, however, that differences in schools' ethnic and socioeconomic composition make comparisons somewhat invalid. Dr. Nicholas Stirling, recently appointed assistant superintendent for curriculum, instruction and assessment, said that the Port Washington results were comparable to "similar schools." ("Similar schools," as defined by the NYSED, are schools that are deemed similar on important variables with respect to the school population.)

School	Third	Fourth	Fifth	Sixth	Seventh	Eighth
Port Washington	92	90	90	90	90	81
Great Neck	94	97	96	92	91	88
Herricks	95	97	94	95	95	92
Manhasset	97	94	94	96	94	91
Roslyn	97	96	89	91	92	87

School	Third	Fourth	Fifth	Sixth	Seventh	Eighth
Port Washington	83	89	85	83	82	81
Great Neck	87	89	91	91	87	90
Herricks	87	96	86	87	86	89
Manhasset	91	89	93	94	90	90
Roslyn	88	90	84	89	88	88

Stirling, who came to the Port Washington School District from Westchester, told the Port News, "In general I am pleased with the overall school report card showing improvement in a majority of areas and comparability with 'similar schools.'" He added, "That is not to say that there are not areas where we could improve. There is always room for improvement." Specifically, he mentioned that more work may need to be done with the ELL students. Very recently appointed, Stirling said, "I expect that my first year will be a 'learning year,' to question and continue to 'think outside the box' for the benefit of the kids and to continue the good work that has already taken place." In response to a Port News question about the sometimes marked differences between one grade and another and from one school to another, Stirling said, "A lot of the difference depends on the cohort of students. We are only testing a particular school and a particular grade. We are really comparing general performance, not individual performance." He added, "The results show how the school program is working."

Stirling added, "For someone new to the district, I am not surprised that the scores are very good. This is a district with strong parent involvement, good district support, highly qualified teachers, and a supportive administration." In particular, he credited the board of education as a strong contributing factor to the strength of the schools. He said, "I have had experience with many boards, and this is a very strong one. I am pleased to work with them."

A detailed list of test results for all New York State schools for this and for prior years is posted on the NYSDED web site at http://www.emsc.nysed.gov/irts/.htm.