FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, JUNE 3, 2004
For More Information, Contact:
Jonathan Burman, or Tom Dunn, or Alan Ray at (518) 474-1201
Internet: http://www.nysed.gov
ELEMENTARY ENGLISH SCORES FALL,
MIDDLE SCHOOL ENGLISH SCORES RISE
After rising since 1999, student achievement in elementary English declined for the first time this year, according to fourth grade test scores released today.
Middle school English scores rose, according to eighth grade test results.
However, elementary schools overall held onto previous gains made in reducing the percentage of students with serious academic difficulties (scoring in level 1), and middle schools continued to reduce the number of children scoring in level 1.
More than 62 percent of fourth graders met all the State standards by scoring in levels 3 and 4. That number is down from 64 percent in 2003 and up from 48 percent in 1999, the first year the test was given.
Black students declined this year more than white or Hispanic students. About 44 percent of black students met all the standards, down four percent from last year but still up from 26 percent in 1999. Almost 46 percent of Hispanic students did so, down two percent from last year but still up from 26 percent in 1999.
Middle school students made gains. The percentage of students meeting all the standards (levels 3 and 4) increased by two percentage points from the previous year, to 47 percent. But results are still slightly down from 1999, when 48 percent met all the standards. Scores for Black and Hispanic students are up slightly over 1999.
“We ultimately have to look to long-term trends over year-to-year changes,” State Education Commissioner Richard Mills said. “However, the decline in elementary achievement in English is troubling. Children are still at much higher levels than in 1999. In particular, fewer children are showing serious academic difficulties by scoring in level 1. But we have to look to the reasons behind the drop this year in the number of students achieving all the standards. And we have to redouble our efforts to give more help to the children.”
“Middle school results, on the other hand, are better this year. That’s good news. However, the longer trend shows no net gain over 1999. The situation overall gives new urgency to the changes in middle school policy now under consideration by the Board of Regents,” Commissioner Mills said.
For elementary and middle school English and Math tests, achievement is measured at four levels:
Level 4 – exceeds the standards
Level 3 – meets all the standards
Level 2 – meets some of the standards or partially meets the standards
Level 1 – shows serious academic difficulties.
Here are some things that middle schools should do to improve student achievement:
Reading
Reading instruction needs to continue in the middle grades, but the instruction needs to go beyond basic reading skills to more advanced skills of interpretation and analysis.
Students should be taught to ask relevant questions, distinguish fact from opinion, recognize assumptions and implications, understand levels of meaning beyond the literal, and recognize how literary forms and techniques convey meaning.
Students should read at least 25 books per year of increasingly sophisticated content and literary quality though the middle years.
Reading should include fiction, poetry, drama, nonfiction, historical documents, and scientific journals.
Middle grade students need to develop strategies for reading in all the subjects they study. (Move from “learning to read” to “reading to learn.”)
In every middle grade classroom where reading is required, reading strategies for that subject should be taught simultaneously with the content of the subject.
Writing
Daily writing in all academic subjects is necessary to insure deep learning in those subjects.
Middle level writing experiences should provide foundation skills for high school writing demands: research studies, literary analyses, thesis and support papers.
Consistent expectations for writing quality (e.g., spelling, punctuation, and agreement of subject and verb, control of verb tenses) should be in place in all subjects. Proofreading, editing, and revision should be expected.
Students should write for analysis and interpretation, as well as basic understanding.
Slides used in the press conference are attached.
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Elementary & Middle School English Language Arts Test Results, 1999-2004 - PowerPoint Presentation