The New York State Department of Education has released the Mathematics and English Language Arts (ELA) test scores for 2003. The tests measure student performance against standards that educators expect students to master in the fourth and eighth grades.

The Port Washington District's passing rate for fourth grade mathematics in 2003 was 88.9 percent, compared with 86 percent in 2002.* For eighth grade, it was 77.3 percent compared with 78 percent last year. Port Washington was below the Nassau County average for fourth grade; the county passing rate was 94 percent, up six percentage points over last year. For eighth grade, our district's passing rate was above that of the county - 77.3 percent versus 72.7 percent respectively. The county's rate was up three percent over the previous year.

The fourth grade passing rate broken down by individual schools is as follows. (All eighth graders tested were at Weber.)

Guggenheim		88.6
John J. Daly		90.0
Manorhaven		87.0
John Philip Sousa	90.4

The District's mean scaled score for fourth grade math was 670; for Nassau County, it was 682. The eighth grade figures were 734 for the District and 731 for the County.

Once again, Port Washington did not perform as well on the tests as neighboring districts. The passing rate comparisons are listed below.

	Fourth Grade Mathematics
	Port Washington	88.9%
	Great Neck		98.7%
	Herricks		95.8%
	Manhasset		96.6%
	Roslyn			99.1%
	Eighth Grade Mathematics
	Port Washington	77.3%
	Great Neck		94.1%
	Herricks		84.2%
	Manhasset		82.0%
	Roslyn			88.9%

The English Language Arts passing rate for the Port Washington School District was 82.9 percent for fourth grade, compared with 85 percent for 2001-2. The eighth grade passing rate was 78.3 percent for 2003, up from 74 percent in 2002. The fourth grade passing rates by school are listed below. (All eight graders were tested at Weber.)

Guggenheim			84.8
John J. Daly			75.0
Manorhaven			87.0
John Philip Sousa		81.4

Comparison with neighboring schools follows.

	Fourth Grade ELA
	Port Washington	82.9%
	Great Neck		93.8%
	Herricks		90.8%
	Manhasset		88.5%
	Roslyn			89.6%
	Nassau County	83.7%
	Eighth Grade ELA
	Port Washington	78.3%
	Great Neck		78.1%
	Herricks		81.7%
	Manhasset		76.0%
	Roslyn			82.9%
	Nassau County	63.5%

Statewide, mathematics scores showed significant improvement in 2003. Fourth grade passing rate went from 67.7 percent in 2002 to 78 percent in 2003. Eighth grade passing rate was 57 percent, up from 47 percent last year and up 12 points over two years ago. According to Richard Mills, commissioner of the New York State Department of Education, especially significant gains were made by Black, Hispanic and Native American groups. The statewide ELA scores were 64 percent for fourth grade and 45 percent for eighth graders. The eighth grade results, said Mills, were "very disappointing."

Professor Arthur Cohen, who teaches mathematics at Nassau Community College, expressed sentiments that have been voiced by many members of the Port Washington community, including some present and past school board members. "I just don't get it," he said. Cohen was particularly concerned about the ranking, saying, "We have the eighth lowest score in Nassau County in fourth grade and the 19th lowest in eighth grade." He added, "Ethnic diversity should not be an issue in math. Anyone should be able to learn it."

By press time, the Port Washington School District did not respond to our request for comment. In previous interviews, however, they have indicated that they prefer not to comment publicly until the entire statewide and districtwide analyses are completed, which typically happens in the spring. For a detailed analysis of the 2001-2002 assessment scores, see the July 24, 2003 Port Washington News.

* All data are from the New York State Department of Education web site, unless otherwise indicated.