Glen Cove School District does poorly on ‘17-‘18 state tests

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Fewer third- through eighth graders in the Glen Cove School District demonstrated a proficiency on their statewide English Language Arts and math tests, when compared to students across Nassau County and the state. Although the district’s proficiency rates were a slight improvement on last year’s numbers, the New York State Education Department cautioned that because of changes in the way students take the test — across two sessions instead of all in one sitting — as well as new performance standards, 2018’s results should not be compared to previous years.

For both the math and English tests, Glen Cove’s proficiency rate is about 24 percentage points lower than the county, and around 10 points lower than the state. About one third of Glen Cove students performed well enough to be in the top two of four proficiency categories, compared to about 60 percent of students across Nassau County.

When broken down by demographics, the NYSED data show some stark contrasts between students of color and white students. White students attained mathematics proficiency levels at over twice the rate of Black and Hispanic student, although this disparity is not unique to Glen Cove, and exists to roughly the same degree county- and state-wide. In English, the gap is smaller, though not by much.

Of the district’s 121 students in grades 3 through 8 with a disability, only 6 — or 5 percent — attained proficiency in math, compared to the 20 percent countywide. In English, only three students with a disability achieved proficiency, compared to 18 percent across Nassau.

The district is on par with island-wide rates of standardized test boycotts, or “opt outs.” In the 2017-2018 school year, about 50 percent of students opted out of the state tests.

District officials did not get back to us for comment on these figures.