When the state Education Department decided to raise the bar and change the way it scored math and English assessments, the decision had disastrous consequences for schools across the region.

Private schools were not immune, yet test results at most of the private schools remained higher than at neighboring public schools.

"It did jolt us," said Rosemary J. Henry, superintendent of Catholic schools in the Buffalo Diocese.

The declines in local private schools' test scores paralleled those of public schools. At the vast majority of schools, scores dropped last year compared with the previous year, The Buffalo News found.

At private schools, however, proficiency levels dropped by fewer points than at public schools.

Statewide, for example, only about half the students were proficient in English under the new scoring system, compared with three-quarters the previous year.

In Buffalo Public Schools, only about a quarter of students were proficient in English under the new scoring, compared with half the previous year.

In Western New York Catholic schools -- consisting of the biggest group of students in local private schools -- the percentage of fourth-graders considered proficient in English fell from 91 percent to 78 percent. In eighth grade, 65 percent of students were proficient in English, compared with 89 percent the year before.

On the tests' scoring scale of 1 to 4, students scoring at levels 3 or 4 are considered proficient.

In July, the state Education Department released the public schools' results for the third- through eighth-grade tests. The state does not publicly release the data for private schools. The News recently obtained the private schools' results through a specific information request to the state.

The drop in test scores last year proved to be a call to action, the leaders of many private schools said.

"When you're at 96 percent [proficient], you can sit there and say everything's fine. The initial rescaling was a shock, but I think it turns out to be a really good thing," said Patricia Trimper, assistant superintendent of curriculum, instruction and assessment for Catholic schools in the Buffalo Diocese.

"This gives us a lot more to work for. When you're at 96 [percent], there's not a lot of room to go higher."

Catholic schools educate more than 17,000 children in the eight counties of Western New York, about half as many students as are enrolled in the Buffalo Public Schools.

Changes in the state's test scoring prompted the Catholic schools to look more closely at student-level data to better understand each student's strengths and weaknesses.

"We think it's important to look at the results, but if you don't look at the data and drill down, what good is it?" Henry said.

Private schools benefit from a variety of factors that may contribute to higher results.

They have a self-selecting group of students whose families make a financial commitment to pay tuition every year. That means families are financially invested in seeing their children do well.

Private schools are not required to keep problem students. Children with more severe disabilities generally attend public schools, which offer more services for them.

Classes are significantly smaller in most private schools.

And many private schools have only one class per grade level. That often means having to get only about a dozen students to achieve proficiency on a test in a private school, compared with as many as 100 or more in a grade level in many public schools.

St. Aloysius Regional School in Springville had about 12 students per class in each grade level, about half as many students as most public schools.

St. Aloysius was the only school in Erie and Niagara counties where all fourth-grade students scored at the proficiency level in both math and English.

Principal Bonnie Renzi cites the small class size as a contributing factor. She also credits the school's teachers, who make much less than their public school counterparts.

"We have dedicated teachers," she said. "I have teachers who will stay after school and work extra with kids who are falling behind a little bit. Getting paid [extra] is not even in the equation. They are just really dedicated to their students."

St. Peter Catholic School in Lewiston achieved the best results for eighth-graders for any public or private school in Erie and Niagara counties. Classes there average about 14 students, Principal Denis P. Coakley noted.

He also cited the commitment of the school's teachers and the involvement of the parents as essential factors.

"Education has to be a partnership between teachers and parents or guardians," he said. "The most successful students are those whose parents will check their homework and reinforce skills with them."

mpasciak@buffnews.comnull