More Lynbrook Students Pass State Tests, 'Master' Subjects

The Lynbrook school district saw some significant improvements in its students' performances on the 2012 New York State Math and English Language Arts (ELA) Assessments compared to last year.

More Lynbrook students passed the exams, which were given in April 2012 to Grades 3 through 8, and on four of the assessments, nearly half of the class achieved a "mastery" score, according to the results released by the State Education Department (SED) earlier this month.

With the exception of the Grade 3 ELA exam, and the Math assessments in Grades 4 and 7, Lynbrook saw noticecable drops -- some by more than 10 percent -- in the amount of students failing the state exams.

In ELA, more than 80 percent of Lynbrook's fourth and fifth graders passed, and less than a quarter of students in Grades 6-8 failed to earn a 3 or 4. Even in third grade, which had the most trouble passing their ELA test, 73 percent passed and more than 10 percent of these students reached "Mastery" level.

Although more than 15 percent of Lynbrook sixth graders failed the Math exam in 2011, nearly 95 percent of this year's class passed and more than half of them earned 4's. The amount of Lynbrook eighth graders failing the Math exam was cut in half (down from 14.5 to 8 percent) as the percentage of students earning "Mastery" scores more than doubled (from 25.2 to 55.4).

However, the amount of students failing the Math exams rose slightly in Grades 3 and 4, to 23 percent and 13.5 percent, respectively, and more than doubled (from 6.8 to 15.4 percent) among seventh graders, who earned less 4's than last year's class. (Grade 5 showed a modest improvement with 82 percent passing, but less achieving "Mastery" of the subject.)  

When comparing Lynbrook's two middle schools, South performed better than North on 5 out of 6 of the exams. The scores were very similar for sixth graders in both buildings, but South performed better on the exams in Grades 7 and 8 with not a single one of its students earning below a 2.

Among Lynbrook's three elementary schools, Waverly Park boasted the highest percentages of students passing (81-98 percent) but more Marion Street students earned 4's on every exam except Grade 5 Math.

According to a press release from the NYSED, the average scale scores on this year’s exams in both ELA and math are slightly higher than last year in most grades, and there is a small increase in the percentage of grades 3-8 students across the State who met or exceeded the proficiency standard on both exams.

"There is some positive momentum in these numbers," said Board of Regents Chancellor Merryl H. Tisch. "But too many of our students, especially students of color, English Language Learners and special education students, are currently not on a course for college and career readiness. That’s why we are continuing to press forward with critical reforms to ensure all of our kids are ready for college and careers."

Referring to the Common Core Learning Standards and the mandated Annual Professional Performance Review plan, Tisch said, "In the fall we will begin to phase in a new, more challenging, content rich curriculum and continue to press for the implementation of a rigorous teacher evaluation system in every district across the state."

"We’re building a ladder, grade by grade, to college and career readiness," Commissioner John B. King, Jr. said. "These results are a small, positive sign of growth, but not enough of our students are climbing as steadily as they should be. Next school year, we start to implement reforms to make that ladder strong enough to support all our students as they climb toward college and career readiness."

Lynbrook school officials were not available for comment.

See attached documents above for a breakdown of Lynbrook's 2012 scores, or click here to access all the results for school districts in New York State.