EWSD outlines Common Core response

Richard Tedesco

East Williston School District officials said Monday that while tests scores in math and English Language Arts dropped 22 to 32 percent year-to-year under the new state Common Core standards district students had outperformed their peers in Nassau County and New York State.

At the same time, the officials told trustees at their regularly scheduled board meeting, the district was making changes to the curriculum to meet the demands of the Common Core’s criteria.

“There are going to be some hiccups along the way as students are taught new ways of learning,” said Jim Bloomgarden, principal of the North Side School.

Bloomgarden said the district’s English Language Arts curriculum now reflects an emphasis on non-fiction, reading complex material more closely and “evidence-based” writing by students about what they read. He said new language arts initiatives include one-on-one reading assessments with students to evaluate their needs.

In mathematics, he said, fewer topics are being introduced in each grade “to create deeper levels of knowledge” and a new emphasis is on using math in real world situations.

“Although the curriculum is still different, math is still math,” Bloomgarden said.

East Williston Superintendent of Schools Elaine Kanas, who serves on the state advisory panel on English Language Arts, said state education Commissioner John King understood the challenge of testing students under the new Common Core standards before school districts had an opportunity to adjust to its demands.

“The commissioner thought it was just right to do [the assessments], to get them started, even though the material wouldn’t be out,” Kanas said.

Stephen Kimmel, principal of the Willets Road School, outlined a number of initiatives the school has undertaken to address the 30 percent drop in state assessment scores among fifth, sixth and seventh graders. Targeted academic intervention for individual students and “significant” staff training for teachers are among those remedies at North Side, he said.

“It’s really a realignment of how the material is being presented to these kids,” Kimmel said.

He said there is a focus on English language skills in all disciplines as teachers realize the need for what he described as “a cross-pollination on what we need to do.”

“It’s writing, writing, writing all the time,” he said, with students writing journals, blogging and “doing everything.”

He said seventh graders would be receiving iPads next week. Sixth graders are already equipped with them.

Three-teacher teams are meeting at Willets Road daily to discuss English Language Arts, other curricula and students, he said.

Sean Feeney, principal of The Wheatley School, said there is concern among students and teachers about this year’s algebra 1 Regents exam and English 11th grade Regents exam as Common Core exams in June.

“That’s a big deal,” Feeney said.

Feeney said in recent Regents results, the algebra 2/trigonometry had been “challenging” with 83 percent of students taking the test passing and only 42 percent demonstrating mastery. Algebra 1 and Geometry both showed more than 90 percent passing, with 54 percent and 48 percent demonstrating mastery, according to Feeney, who said “evolving” math curricula had a dampening effect on test results.

“Mathematics has been a moving target for the last 10 years,” Feeney said.

He said there was a “dip” in results for the 11th and 12th grade English Language AP exams, with 80 percent of juniors and 72 percent of seniors scoring a 3,4 or 5 on the five-point AP scale. But he said scoring a 2 on an AP exam is still a credit to the student for making the effort.

“Most research shows if you take an AP course and receive a ‘2’, that’s okay,” Feeney said.

He said Wheatley students were above average in their performance on AP exams in 2013 compared to their peers statewide and nationwide. Among Wheatley students taking AP tests, 76.4 percent passed, compared to 65.8 percent of students nationwide and 58.5 percent of students statewide.   

In other developments:

• The school board granted tenure to David Casamento as the school district’s director of science and technology.

In her recommendation that he receive tenure, Kanas called Casamento “truly one of the most committed colleagues” she had ever worked with.

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