Lawrence test scores uptick

Concern about number of opt outs in H-W

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Administrators in both the Hewlett-Woodmere and Lawrence school districts continue to review the scores from the latest round of state exams to understand how best to educate their students.
Math scores were higher than last year across the county, but only 8 percent of eighth-graders in Hewlett-Woodmere met or exceeded the proficiency standards. Every other grade saw an increase.
The newly implemented Common Core Learning Standards played a role in this, according to district officials as 191 of eighth grade students received a waiver from taking the state math test due to their enrollment in the Common Core algebra class. Out of about 1,373 students, 238 opted out of taking the ELA, district officials previously noted.
“It has become increasingly difficult to compare scores from year to year due to the significant increase in students deciding not to sit for the exams,” Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction Mark Secaur said about students opting out of taking the state tests.
Secaur said that what he called “single-event tests” such as the state ELA (English Language (Art) and math exams ate just a portion of how student academic achievement is measured in Hewlett-Woodmere. “Our own classroom assessments are multiple and varied and give a fuller representation of student progress over the course of a [school] year and from year to year,” he said.

In Lawrence, math scores in grades three, four, five and seven are up, but remain lower than the higher county averages. Deputy Superintendent Ann Pedersen said in comparison, Lawrence fourth-graders outperformed the East Rockaway, Oceanside, Baldwin, Freeport, Long Beach, Uniondale, Mineola and Westbury school districts at the same grade level on the ELA. A total of 45 Lawrence students opted out of taking the ELA.
“We are carefully studying the scores, and see that in ELA our scores show grades where ELA increased from last year, and grades where they decreased,” Pedersen. “Overall, we range from within 2 percent to 14 percent of the county averages.”
Despite the lower scores and the issue with comparing tests, outgoing Hewlett-Woodmere Superintendent. Joyce Bisso — she will retire next June — remains optimistic about how the district is educating its students. “Hewlett-Woodmere public schools will continue to focus on literacy in all its dimensions,” she said. “The Hewlett-Woodmere public schools shared vision, mission and student outcomes remain certain and steady.”