Oceanside and Island Park earn high marks

The New York State Department of Education recently released its report cards for school districts, charting how well students performed on the 2009-10 state tests. And both Oceanside and Island Park received high marks.

The report cards are made up of three main sections: a district profile, which includes various statistics about the district; the district accountability, which tracks how well the district performed overall on the mandatory state tests; and an overview of the district’s performance, which breaks down the test results for each exam.

“We are extremely pleased with our Report Cards results,” said Oceanside Superintendent Dr. Herb Brown in an e-mail to the Herald. “It’s a tribute to our teachers and, of course, our students.”

Both districts had all of their tested students placing at or above the state average for students achieving scores of 3 or 4 on the exams — a passing grade. However, on average, fewer students passed the exams last year than the year before. Brown attributed that to the fact that the state raised the passing grades for last year’s exams.

“The bar was set higher,” he said. “There’s nothing wrong with that, but that’s the reason.”

While class sizes have held rather steady over the past few years, both districts have seen declining enrollment over the last decade.

Both Oceanside and Island Park, according to the reports, have high annual attendance rates of 96 percent or higher along with very low suspension rates — around one or two percent.

The only area Oceanside fell behind in was certain test areas for students with disabilities. However, it was not enough to make the district lose its “good standing” rating, which is the highest rating that a district can receive.

“The kids get the support they need to help them try to get a 3 or a 4 on the test,” said Brown. “These are, for the most part, kids who need extra help and are doing the best that they can.”