Five Towns Students Perform Well on Standardized Tests

The New York State Department of Education released the results of the 2016 ELA and math exams, and students in the Five Towns scored well above the state average.

Statewide, the percentage of students scoring "proficient" on the exams (scoring a 3 or 4, instead of a 1 or 2) also increased. Students proficient in ELA went up from 31.3 percent to 37.9. In math, the percentage of proficient students went from 38.1 to 39.1.

The State Education Department made several changes to the 2016 ELA and math exams through a deliberate process. These changes included contracting a new test vendor with a requirement of greater teacher involvement, reducing the number of questions on every grade 3-8 ELA and math assessments and allowing students who are productively working to complete their exams.

In addition, more test questions were released than ever before and earlier than ever before to support instruction. Further, when parents receive their child’s school reports later this summer, they will see that they are easier to understand and provide more information on how their child performed.

Five Towns students placed well above the state average for the percentage of students scoring proficient, and increased their scores as well. In Lawrence, students scoring proficient on the ELA test went from 35 to 38 percent. Scores in math went from 31 to 39 percent proficiency.

In the Hewlett-Woodmere district, student proficiency went from 60 to 65 percent in ELA, but dropped from 61 to 59 percent in math.

For the complete school report card for Lawrence, click here. For the Hewlett-Woodmere district, click here.

Photo: Google Maps.