Manhasset School District officials on Thursday said that despite changes to grading standards for state assessment examinations, Manhasset students still scored among the best in Nassau County.
State education department officials increased the rigor of 2013 exams as part of the Common Core Standards by increasing cut-point scores as they apply to the four grading levels, making it more difficult for students to score in the highest levels.
Whereas scores between 704-780 last year qualified a student as scoring a “Level 4,” or “mastery,” scores between 345 and 396 this year earn students a “Level 4” distinction.
Department of education officials described the new changes in letters to residents and school district superintendents, and expressed expectations that scores would diminish from year-to-year based on the new grading system.
“This change in scores – which will effectively create a new baseline measurement of student learning – is largely the result of the shift in the assessments to measure the Common Core Standards, which more accurately reflect students’ progress toward college and career readiness,” Department of Education officials wrote to superintendents.
According to a presentation of the test score data given by Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction Charles Leone and department officials, 68.3 percent of Manhasset students from third to eighth grade who took the state’s math assessment exams earned “proficient” scores, second-best in Nassau County, and 33.8 percent achieved “mastery” status, third-best in Nassau County.
According to the presentation, 67.7 percent of Manhasset students from third to eighth grade who took the English-language arts assessment exams earned “proficient” scores, and 28 percent achieved “mastery” status, each second-best among Nassau County school districts.
Leone also showed the year-by-year scores as calculated under the older grading guidelines, which would have remained consistent from 2012 to 2013 and not shown a decrease as the state predicted.
“What I find interesting about this is if you look at the 2s, they would have been 3s last year, so it really shows in black and white what the differences are and how there was a decrease in proficiency and natural percentiles,” Leone said.
The state also changed the rigor of achieving “mastery” results on English and math regents exams.
While scores over 85 in other subjects earn a “mastery” distinction, a 75 in English and 80 in Math now achieve that result, Leone said.
Of the 208 Manhasset students who took the English regents exams in 2013, 99.5 percent had passing grades and 79.8 percent achieved “mastery” results, scores above 85, according to the presentation.
According to the presentation:
• Of the 300 who took the Integrated Algebra regents, 95.7 percent of Manhasset students passed and 46.3 percent had “mastery” scores.
• Of the 243 who took the Geometry regents, 95.7 percent of Manhasset students passed and 46.3 percent had “mastery” scores, according to the presentation.
• Of the 188 who took the Algebra 2 and Trigonometry regents, 95.7 percent of Manhasset students passed and 46.3 percent had “mastery” scores.
• Of the 230 who took the Global History & Geography regents, 99.5 percent of Manhasset students passed and 86.9 percent had “mastery” scores, according to the presentation.
• Of the 222 who took the U.S. History & Government regents, 99.5 percent of Manhasset students passed and 86.9 percent had “mastery” scores.
• Of the 266 who took the Living Environment regents, 98.5 percent of Manhasset students passed and 78.6 percent had “mastery” scores, according to the presentation.
• Of the 270 who took the Earth Science regents, 95.6 percent of Manhasset students passed and 68.1 percent had “mastery” scores.
• Of the 170 who took the Physics regents, 91.1 percent of Manhasset students passed and 53.5 percent had “mastery” scores, according to the presentation.
• Of the 188 who took the Chemistry regents, 95.7 percent of Manhasset students passed and 46.3 percent had “mastery” scores.
• Of the 178 Manhasset students who took the Foreign Language Association of Chairpersons and Supervisors’ Checkpoint A Spanish exam, 81 percent scored at mastery, according to the presentation.
• Of the 29 Manhasset students who took the Foreign Language Association of Chairpersons and Supervisors’ Checkpoint A French exam, 86 percent scored at mastery.
• Of the 67 Manhasset students who took the Foreign Language Association of Chairpersons and Supervisors’ Checkpoint A Italian exam, 96 percent scored at “mastery,” according to the presentation.
• Of the 29 Manhasset students who took the Foreign Language Association of Chairpersons and Supervisors’ Checkpoint A Latin exam, 48 percent scored at “mastery.”
• Of the 155 Manhasset students who took the Foreign Language Association of Chairpersons and Supervisors’ Checkpoint B Spanish exam, 67 percent scored at “mastery,” according to the presentation.
• Of the 21 Manhasset students who took the Foreign Language Association of Chairpersons and Supervisors’ Checkpoint B French exam, 86 percent scored at “mastery.”
• Of the 50 Manhasset students who took the Foreign Language Association of Chairpersons and Supervisors’ Checkpoint B Italian exam, 98 percent scored at “mastery,” according to the presentation.
• Of the 8 Manhasset students who took the Foreign Language Association of Chairpersons and Supervisors’ Checkpoint B Latin exam, 50 percent scored at “mastery.”
Though the percentage of students who scored a 3 or higher on 2013 advanced placement exams decreased slightly from last year, officials attributed the percentage to an increased number of students taking exams. In 2012, 1,119 students took AP exams, but in 2013 the number jumped to 1,245.
According to the presentation:
• In 2013, 85 percent of Manhasset students who took advanced placement exams received scores of 3 or higher, according to the presentation, better than the 67 percent state average and 61 percent global average. Manhasset’s figure is slightly down from the 88 percent who scored a 3 or higher in 2012. Scores of 3 or higher qualifies a student as an “AP Scholar.”
• More than 95 percent of Manhasset students who took the advanced placement English language and composition exam scored at or above a 3. In addition, 85.7 percent who took English literature and composition exam also scored at or above a 3.
• More than 52 percent of Manhasset students who took the advanced placement AB calculus exam scored at or above a 3. In addition, 79.6 percent who took the BC calculus exam and 59.5 percent who took the statistics exam also scored at or above a 3.
• More than 86 percent of Manhasset students who took the AP biology exam scored at or above a 3. In addition, 78 percent of Manhasset students who took the environmental science exam, 95.2 percent of those who took the Physics B exam and 100 percent of those who took either the physics C electricity and magnetism exam or the physics C mechanics exam scored at or above a 3.
• More than 97 percent of Manhasset students who took the AP World History exam scored at or above a 3, while 73.3 percent of those who took the U.S. history exam and 61.7 percent of students who took the U.S. government and politics exam scored at or above a 3.
• More than 86 percent of Manhasset students who took the AP macroeconomics exam scored at or above a 3, while 82.4 percent of those who took the microeconomics exam and 75.3 percent of students who took the psychology exam scored at or above a 3.
• On advanced placement world language exams, 58.6 percent of Manhasset students who took Spanish scored at or above a 3, 100 percent of those who took French scored at or above a 3 and 10 percent of those who took Latin scored at or above a 3.
Manhasset students also scored well above state and national averages on the different sections of the SAT and ACT examinations. According to the presentation:
• On the SAT’s critical reading section, Manhasset students averaged a 581 score, nearly 100 points higher than the 485 state average and 496 national average.
• On the exam’s math section, Manhasset students averaged a 614 score, more than 100 points higher than the 501 state average and 514 national score.
• Manhasset students also averaged a 595 writing score, also well above the 477 state average and 488 national average.
• On the ACT, 63 percent of Manhasset students were found to have met benchmark scores for each section of the exam, compared to a 43 percent state average and a 26 percent national average.
Manhasset students also scored highly on the SAT subject exams as well, officials said.
According to the presentation:
• The 38 Manhasset students who took the SAT literature exam had a 621 mean score, higher than the 613 state and national averages.
• The 96 Manhasset students who took the SAT United States history exam had a 663 mean score, higher than the 653 state and 651 national averages.
• The 43 Manhasset students who took the SAT world history exam had a 675 mean score, higher than the 629 state and 624 national averages.
• The 79 Manhasset students who took the SAT mathematics 1 exam had a 658 mean score, higher than the 631 state and 621 national averages.
• The 61 Manhasset students who took the SAT mathematics 2 exam had a 725 mean score, higher than the 691 state and 686 national averages.
• The 51 Manhasset students who took the SAT ecological biology exam had a 641 mean score, higher than the 630 state and 626 national averages.
• The 26 Manhasset students who took the SAT molecular biology exam had a 670 mean score, higher than the 666 state and 655 national averages
• The 54 Manhasset students who took the SAT chemistry exam had a 697 mean score, higher than the 665 state and 666 national averages.
• The 27 Manhasset students who took the SAT physics exam had a 736 mean score, higher than the 675 state and 667 national averages.
