By Kathianne Boniello
The majority of Queens students failed the latest round of reading and math tests, according to Board of Ed scores for students in grades 3 through 8 released last week.
The dismal results apply to most of the borough’s districts, but not all: Bayside’s School District 26 maintained its winning ways as the highest scoring district in the city on both exams, and Flushing’s School District 25 was the third-highest in the city behind Manhattan’s School District 2.
The remaining five districts in the borough did not wind up with sparkling scores, however, in the third year of the state’s effort at imposing tougher academic standards and revamped exams.
A bad performance in Queens mirrored the rest of the city in which a majority of students failed the exams given in both reading and math to grades 3 through 8. Generally, scores for exams given to fourth- and eighth-graders are seen as benchmarks of a district’s progress.
In reading, roughly 50 percent or more of Queens students in grades 3 through 8 failed the standardized tests in each of the borough’s districts, with only Districts 26 and 25 scoring higher passage rates. About 70 percent of students in District 26 passed, while roughly 30 percent failed, and in District 25 in Flushing 58 percent passed, while 42 percent did not.
Glendale’s District 24’s failure rate on the reading exams tipped the scale at about 56 percent; District 27 in Ozone Park had 63 percent of its students fail the test. In Forest Hills’ District 28 about 50 percent of students failed the reading test while in District 29 in Rosedale, 58 percent failed. In Jackson Heights’ District 30, 54 percent of students failed the reading exam.
The numbers were much the same for Queens students in grades 3 through 8 who took the mathematics exam, with the majority of the borough’s students failing the test.
At the top were District 26, which had about 71 percent pass the math exam and 29 percent fail. In District 25, about 55 percent passed the mathematics while 45 percent failed.
In the remainder of Queens districts the majority of students failed the math exam.
School District 24 had 64 percent of its students fail the math test, while in District 27 the failure rate was 69 percent. District 28 had 55 percent of its students fail, while District 29 had 68 percent failing. In District 30 about 57 percent of the students failed.
School District 26 has long been the top-scoring district in the city on standardized reading and math tests, an accomplishment which did not change when the state introduced higher academic standards and revamped exams in 1999. The district includes Bayside, Little Neck, Douglaston, Oakland Gardens, Glen Oaks and parts of Flushing, Fresh Meadows, Auburndale and Bellerose.
In the past three years Flushing’s District 25 has also displayed educational muscle on the new state tests by consistently being the third-highest scoring district in the city on state math exams, behind District 26 and Manhattan’s District 2.
In 2001 District 25 mirrored its success in mathematics on the state reading exam by becoming the third-highest scoring district on those tests. The Flushing-based district includes the communities of Whitestone, College Point, Bay Terrace and parts of Fresh Meadows and Auburndale.
Reach reporter Kathianne Boniello by e-mail at Timesledgr@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 146.
