Administrators in the East Greenbush Central School District presented data from the 2022 New York State Grades 3-8 Tests at the public Board of Education meeting on November 22. The presentation showed proficiency rates by grade level for both English Language Arts and Mathematics. Based on the results, East Greenbush CSD continues to outperform state averages and other average needs districts.
As a district, 62% of students were proficient in ELA (77th out of 646 districts in New York and 5th in the Capital Region) and 61% of students were proficient in math (70th out of 646 districts in New York and 4th in the Capital Region).
Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction Roy Stiles led the presentation in which he showed test results comparing 2019 (the last pre-COVID exam) to this past spring. In general, ELA proficiency rates increased or held steady and math decreased, which is consistent with results from across the state.
Mr. Stiles also showed how specific cohorts have progressed in those three years. For example, the Class of 2026 Cohort, which is now the freshman class at Columbia High School, improved from 56% proficiency on the ELA exam as 5th graders in 2019 to 69% proficiency as 8th graders last year.
“We were very pleased with how all of our students have been continuing to grow and improve, and these New York State assessment results support that growth,” said Mr. Stiles. “We will continue to use all of our student data and keep working hard to ensure we are meeting the needs of all of our students.”
Each student’s test results were mailed home directly from the Northeastern Regional Information Center earlier this fall. The results have no impact on a student’s academic record. They provide one of the many measures used to evaluate student progress including attendance, grades and school assessments.
Mr. Stiles discussed strategies for improving proficiency rates in both ELA and math, including:
- Continue to update curriculum maps
- Utilize data team meetings to identify students needing additional support
- Continue to provide professional development for teachers and staff
- Examine math intervention support at the K-8 level
The East Greenbush CSD has already taken steps to counteract negative learning outcomes caused by the pandemic, which closed schools statewide in March 2020 and then impacted learning models throughout 2021-22.
Some of those steps include:
- Hiring K-3 Intervention Specialists to provide additional reading and math services
- Implementing a new universal screener to evaluate what students know and provide interventions needed to foster growth
- Offering a new K-8 summer school program in 2021 and 2022, which was open to all general education students
- Continuing longstanding special education summer school program
- Adding a new Pre-K Program in 2021-22 and then expanding on it for 2022-23
“We are encouraged by the academic progress our students are making and the overall levels of proficiency and growth demonstrated within the data despite the challenges of the last few years,” said Superintendent Jeff Simons. “The recently released statewide measures indicate that our strategic use of federal dollars to address student academic and social needs is yielding benefits to students. I am particularly proud of our students, staff and school leaders for achieving these outcomes during such a rough period due to the pandemic.”