Buffalo schools share in math gains
63% meet state goals in 3rd to 8th grade
Published: June 02, 2009, 12:30 am
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Buffalo Public Schools have made dramatic gains in math, while schools around the state continue to make steady improvement.
State test scores released Monday show 63 percent of children in third through eighth grades in Buffalo schools are meeting the standards in math. That’s compared with 50 percent last year and 29 percent four years ago.
Statewide, 86.4 percent of third-through eighth-graders achieved the standards this year, compared with 80.7 percent last year.
So many students are achieving the standards that it may be time to increase the rigor of the testing program, Regents Chancellor Merryl H. Tisch said.
“When a critical mass of students can achieve these predetermined levels, it is appropriate to revisit the cut scores and it is appropriate to consider resetting them,” she said.
She said the Board of Regents will decide on raising the bar.
“Just because scores have gone up dramatically does not mean that our youngsters are ready to go to college,” she said. “In our large urban districts, only about half of the students who score a low level 3 on this test in math in the eighth grade will actually graduate from high school.”
In Buffalo, the number of students achieving proficiency more than doubled in the last three years.
Superintendent James A. Williams singled out four schools—the Native American Magnet, International School, Herman Badillo and D’Youville Porter—for having overcome demographics, including extremely high poverty levels, to achieve proficiency in math as high as 70 percent.
“Poverty has nothing to do with academic progress,” Williams told students at the D’Youville-Porter Campus on Monday afternoon. “Good teaching, good leadership, good parents, good organization can overcome any barrier that can be used to hinder academic progress.”
He also credited a longer school day with extended learning time and staff development for the improvement.
“If you keep them with us over a period of time, we will educate them. All of them,” he said.
Among large urban school systems, Buffalo pulled ahead of Syracuse in math scores but lags behind Yonkers, where 73.8 percent, and New York City, where 81.8 percent, scored at the proficient level in math.
Education Commissioner Richard Mills attributes the improvements to the expansion of universal prekindergarten programs, the major infusion of state aid, the increase in professional development for teachers and the development of the core curriculum in 2006.
“There was much greater clarity in what needed to be covered and when,” he said. “If it’s left up to everyone what to teach and when to teach, some children are going to be surprised on the test.”
Niagara Falls interim Superintendent Cynthia A. Bianco said the system’s job-imbedded staff development, or teacher coaches, are a big reason for the improvements seen in most schools.
“I’m a firm believer in staff development,” she said. “I think it’s the emphasis on the pedagogy, how to teach.”
Student achievement improved dramatically at Pinnacle Charter School, where 79 percent of eighth-graders this year passed the math test — compared with 47 percent last year. Results in other grades improved, as well.
Chief academic officer Heidi Rotella credits the school’s Everyday Math program. Although it confounds many parents, the approach seems to work for students, she said. They are taught several ways to figure out a multiplication problem, for instance, and can use whichever one makes the most sense to them.
Since Pinnacle opened in 2003, student performance has gradually improved. The longer students are at Pinnacle, the stronger their results, Rotella said. Many of this year’s eighth-graders have been in the building since third grade.
Cleveland Hill saw a comparable improvement in its eighth-grade scores this year, with 92 percent passing the test, compared with 67 percent a year ago.
“Over the past few years, teachers have really worked and collaborated to assess the state standards and align the curriculum and testing to state standards,” said Sharon Huff, assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction.
The district has also been emphasizing math vocabulary more, she said. Along with that, the district has become more focused with the help teachers provide to struggling students, both during the school day and after school.
“We’re really looking at the individual needs of students and providing that support,” she said.
Lake Shore schools made improvements in eighth-grade math, and two elementary schools, Brant and John T. Waugh, achieved 100 percent proficiency in fourth-grade math.
Superintendent Jeffrey R. Rabey said the district got a new math program last year that encourages teachers to talk about curriculum within their grade level and on other levels. Lake Shore also uses data analysis to target review classes to student weaknesses and has strengthened professional development. He said the combination has helped.
“It’s not something you can fix overnight,” he said.
mpasciak@buffnews.com and bobrien@buffnews.com
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