By Kathianne Boniello
Most Queens school districts performed well on this year’s fourth-grade and eighth-grade state math exams when compared with districts from around the city, but most students still are failing the benchmark tests, according to figures from the city Department of Education.
While not perfect, passage rates for fourth-graders were significantly better than those of their eighth-grade counterparts on the 2002 state math tests. The exams have been used by the state for four years since the state Education Department instituted higher academic standards in 1999.
In both fourth and eighth-grade math passage rates, five of Queens’ seven districts were among the top 12 citywide among the 34 school districts.
But only two Queens districts — School District 26 in Bayside and School District 25 in Flushing — had more than a 70 percent passage rate on the fourth-grade math test, meaning 30 percent or more of Queens’ fourth-graders failed in the remaining district.
Eighth-grade results were even more dismal in Queens, with only School District 26 posting a math passage rate of more than 65 percent. Every other Queens school district had fewer than 50 percent of its eighth-graders pass the math test.
Test patterns in Queens have followed a trend since the new state tests were introduced, and 2002 scores were no different.
Bayside’s School District 26, which led the borough and the city’s 32 school districts in both fourth-grade and eighth-grade scores, continued its academic dominance with 86.9 percent of fourth-graders passing the math tests and 67.8 percent of eighth-graders passing.
Flushing’s School District 25 also continued a strong performance on the state tests with the second highest passage rates in Queens and the fourth highest in the city. For fourth-grade, School District 25 had a 72.3 passage rate in math, while eighth-graders had a 47.6 passage rate in math.
In Queens, Rosedale’s School District 29 and South Ozone Park’s School District 27 continued to hold up the bottom when it came to passage rates.
With 46.8 percent of fourth-graders passing the math and only 17.7 percent of eighth-graders doing so, School District 29 had the worst math passage rates in Queens but not in the city. Citywide, the district ranked 21st in the five boroughs for fourth-grade and 26th for eighth-grade.
School District 27 had similarly dismal math passage rates: 48.2 percent of fourth-graders passed in 2002, and 24.8 percent of eighth-graders did so. The district ranked 19th in the city on fourth-grade scores and 18th for eighth-grade scores.
State figures show both districts made some improvement in eighth-grade math passage rates between 2001 and 2002: School District 29’s scores jumped 5.9 percent, while District 27’s rose 7.3 percent. Both districts had a slight drop in scores on the fourth-grade exams.
Out of the city’s 34 school districts — which includes the chancellor’s district and the citywide special education district — the special education district ranked the worst in both fourth and eighth grades. The special education district had a 9 percent passing rate in the fourth grade math exam and a 3.3 percent passing rate in the eighth grade.
The new scoring on the tests changed in 1999 with the addition of the state’s higher academic standards. In general, Levels 1 and 2 have been seen as not meeting an exam’s academic standard, while Level 3 has been considered passing and Level 4 excelling on a test. Passage rates generally are determined by combining the number of students who scored in Levels 3 and 4 on the exams.
Queens passage rates were as follows:
4th 8th
• School District 24, Glendale 53.7 30.1
• School District 25, Flushing 72.3 47.6
• School District 26, Bayside 86.9 67.8
• School District 27, S. Ozone Park 48.2 24.8
• School District 28, Forest Hills 58.6 45.1
• School District 29, Rosedale 46.8 17.7
• School District 30, Jackson Heights 65.1 31.3
Reach reporter Kathianne Boniello by e-mail at Timesledger@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 157.
