Last year’s state test scores show the Sewanhaka Central High School District is continuing to adjust to Common Core standards in the third year since they took hold.
Eighth grade English and math scores across the district’s five schools saw a jump after falling last year.
This aligns with the pattern of a “reset, dip and rebound” in scores that the state’s plan for Common Core implementation was designed to create over three years, said Cheryl Champ, Sewanhaka’s assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction.
At the high school level, Sewanhaka schools saw strong increases in the number of students attaining “mastery” scores on the Common Core algebra exam in its second year.
Champ said she was also pleased with high school students’ performance on the first Common Core geometry exam, which had passing and mastery rates on par with this year’s algebra results.
Part of the success stemmed from having students take both the new Common Core test and the old Regents test, which made the transition between the two sets of standards less abrupt.
The district has taken a “gradual, thoughtful approach” to the Common Core tests, Champ said, providing teachers with professional development and other resources in adjusting to the new standards.
“I would say it’s kind of an organic approach, trying to give them what they need so they can do the best they can,” she said.
Champ credited the district’s relative success with Common Core to its teachers, who she said have collaborated to rewrite curriculum and thoroughly understand the new standards.
Sewanhaka schools saw scores drop on the algebra 2 and trigonometry Regents test, as did much of the state, Champ said.
A number of factors, such as the difficulty of the test material and a lack of space in summer classes, may have influenced that pattern, she said. Students will take the first Common Core algebra 2 test next June.
The district’s most recent academic report card showed the impact of the “opt-out movement,” which has been particularly active on Long Island since Common Core took effect in 2012.
Many parents pulled their students out of the eighth grade math exam in particular because they were concerned that Common Core tests were too strenuous.
Most of the students who opted out are “advantaged demographically and economically,” Champ said.
At Floral Park Memorial High School, for example, white eighth grade students were among the few subgroups who did not meet the state’s benchmark for participation in the state math exam.
Fewer students taking the test contributed to a decline in eighth grade math scores, Champ said.
