Published: June 03, 2009 01:57 am      

EDUCATION: Eastern Niagara school districts show improvement in math

Eastern Niagara school districts saw improvement in the annual state math tests, according to results released Monday by the state Education Department.

Just like with the English Language Arts tests released last month, local schools saw scores rise in almost every grade level. Students were graded from 1 to 4, with level 1 meaning the student was showing serious academic problems, and a level 2, meaning a student partially meets state standards. A score of a 3 is considered passing or meeting the state standards, and a 4 means the student exceeds the learning standards.

Lockport

Lockport City Schools saw an increase in passing at all grade levels. About 93.8 percent of third-graders hit either level 3 or 4, a passing rate higher than the 92 percent Lockport third-graders reached last year. The passing rate for seventh-graders jumped from about 87 percent last year to 94.9 percent this year. Superintendent Terry Ann Carbone said she was thrilled with the scores. The improvement was the result of focusing the district’s efforts on the math curriculum and the state standards, she said. That includes staff development and a new math book series for kindergarten through fifth grade.

“There has been a lot of attention paid to math,” Carbone said.

Newfane

All of Newfane’s third-graders passed the state math test. The district also saw a jump in the number of fourth-graders who scored a level 4, with 45.5 percent of students doing so. Last year about 28.9 percent did. For the eighth-graders, 91.1 percent passed, as compared to 73.1 percent a year ago. Peter Young, the district’s director of curriculum, instruction, assessment and technology, said the scores were the result of hard work at every grade level, not just the ones tested.

“Everybody deserves credit,” he said. “It’s about pre-kindergarten — it starts with a quality foundation. It starts with the families who prepare their kids.”

Barker

Barker saw an increase in the number of seventh-graders who passed, jumping to about 94.5 percent this year compared to 87.2 percent in 2008. About 96.2 percent of third-graders passed the state math test.

Royalton-Hartland

There was an increase in the number of Roy-Hart seventh-graders who passed the math test. About 98.4 percent scored a level 3 or 4, as compared to 84.7 percent last year. The number of fifth-graders who reached a level 4 nearly doubled, with about 40.8 percent this year, compared to 21 percent a year ago.

Starpoint

Every third-grader passed in Starpoint, as compared to about 95 percent last year. About 97.8 percent of seventh-graders passed, up from 92.3 percent who passed in 2008.

Wilson

About 96 percent of Wilson third-graders passed the state math test, including a 10 percent jump in those who scored a level 4. There was a big jump in the number of seventh-graders who passed, with about 59.9 percent reaching level 3 and 35.4 percent hitting level 4 (95.3 percent passing total). In 2008, about 88.9 percent passed, with 68.4 percent scoring a level 3 and 20.5 percent at level 4.

Across the state, scores improved overall this year. Eighty-six percent of students met the standards in math this year, compared with 80.7 percent in 2008. Testing of students in math in each grade 3 through 8, began in 2006. Prior to that, students were tested only in fourth and eighth grade.

Contact reporter Joe Olenick at 439-9222, ext. 6241.