YORKTOWN, N.Y. -- The New York State Education Department released the results of the math and English Language Arts (ELA) exams taken by all New York students in grades three through eight this past May. According to the results, Lakeland students scored relatively the same as the Westchester County average for students deemed proficient by the state.
Students scores fell into one of four categories. The first two indicate a student is below proficiency. A student at level three meets the proficiency standard, while a level four student exceeds it.
Across the board, Lakeland students scored higher than the county average for level three rankings, but lower in level four. In math, 47.1 percent of Lakelands eighth graders scored at a level three but only 21.8 percent scored at a level four. The countys average for level three was at 39.7 percent, and 26.2 percent for level four.
Director of Communications for the Lakeland School District, James Van Develde said the superintendent of schools, and assistant superintendent of curriculum would soon begin looking at the numbers to analyze if any changes should be made to the districts curriculum.
Last year, New York State raised the proficiency standards to better reflect the level of achievement needed to indicate that a student is on track. They also made changes to the testing system by including more multiple choice questions on both the math and English exams and requiring at least one full essay on each grade's English tests.
The changes resulted in a significant drop in the percentage of students classified as level four in ELA because, before, the tests had too few items to measure the level four cut score as accurately as the department would want, said the state. While most students met or exceeded the states proficiency standards in both categories, overall performance remained low and the gaps in achievement persist, according to a press release from the education department.
The results show only 52.8 percent of students in grades three through eight met or exceeded (level three and four) in the ELA, a decrease from 53.2 percent last year. The math scores went up across the state however, where 63.3 percent of students met or exceeded the standard, an increased from 61 percent last year.
Michael Jones, who will enter the tenth grade at Walter Panas High School in Lakeland this year said he remembers the tests he had to take through eighth grade.
They were just something we had to do, they werent too awful, he said.
His mom, Ilsa Jones, said she thinks the tests are necessary, but not overbearing.
I think the schools are doing enough to meet the standards, she said.
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