(Ed. Note: Followingis a response to a letter to the Superintendent of Schools regarding PW's test scores. It is reprinted here at Dr. Gordon's request.)

Thank you for your letter received Nov. 3, and for the informative background information. Although education is a comprehensive process, unfortunately, test scores are a norm that receives much publicity without any explanatory detail. Nevertheless, they are a necessary reality that must be addressed and they ought to be as well.

Regarding fourth-grade test scores, essentially no baseball game ends in the first inning, and it is the score in the ninth inning that determines who wins the game. Our ninth-inning score equates to the completion of high school. For your children or mine, all of our goals are to have a positive end result at the conclusion of a student's public school career.

Port is as strong as any school district anywhere in that regard. We rank first in Nassau County in such difficult exams as Physics Regents and are comprehensively a top five school in Nassau County based upon the tests of time and achievement. The same can be said of our senior class at Schreiber. Last year's class, with growing diversity, had as fine a college acceptance rate as any in Port's history. Five students are attending Yale alone and Port was recognized among the top districts in the United States for college acceptances (Worth Magazine, September 2002). Students who complete our comprehensive educational program do very well indeed.

Having said that, as a superintendent who has recently come to Port I find last year's fourth-grade achievement results unacceptable. Whether we like it or not, test results do matter and are codified potentially in terms of state aid by Federal Legislation (No Child Left Behind). It is anticipated that state funding will be tied to state test results. While our fourth-grade achievement score of 89 percent is of itself not a poor score at all, the ranking is as you stated "atrocious." In analyzing our results longitudinally, Assistant Superintendent Emma Fraser Pendleton has been able to isolate the problem. Essentially, for years a dual problem has existed at the elementary levels; first, our lowest achieving decile of students are doing poorer, skewing the distribution, and secondly, our diagnostic assessment which help teachers and parents isolate strengths and weaknesses needed to be addressed. Fortunately, these are both fixable and are far removed from the excellent quality of staff and students in the district.

So what can we do both short and long term? It is significant to note that last year's scores reflect the downward trend of the past methodologies of the 1990s and are the culmination of a sporadic long-term downtrend in elementary achievement scores. While this is not a cause for alarm because Port has chosen to de-emphasize elementary testing for years, it is a cause of concern especially in light of the recent federal and state legislation and mandate. Please note the following initiatives in that regard:

Short Term (impact beginning this and next year)

* In my first year as superintendent (2002-2003), together with our board of education, principals and community, we increased Math Resource Teachers from two to four. Now each elementary school has a fully dedicated Math Resource Teacher to work with our elementary classroom teachers to prevent bottom decile students from falling through the cracks. We expect this initiative to begin the process of reversing the long-term downward trend of test scores at the elementary level to a long-term upward trend.

* We have added classroom teachers at every elementary school this year effectively decreasing class size comprehensively by approximately 15 percent. This will allow our teachers to effectively differentiate instruction and we believe that this will also have a positive impact on both testing and learning this year.

* We have revamped our Middle School Math Curriculum to upgrade the substantive math taught for all Middle School students. Specifically, all eighth-graders now learn Math A, all seventh-graders now learn the former eighth-grade curriculum and all sixth-graders now are taught the former compressed seventh-grade curriculum. In addition, all seventh-graders will be taught and will individually complete a research component in science.

* We have initiated gifted education for every child. The three components include self-directed challenge workshops, push-in inclusion classes and the traditional rubric model. We know of no other school district anywhere with this type of progressive model (confirmed by Teachers College, Columbia University).

Long Term (one- to 10-year time frame)

* We are reassessing Port's long-term past commitment to the Iowa tests. Specifically, in view of the federal and state mandates of the No Child Left Behind legislation, student test scores will be tied to funding and/or accreditation. Because federal and state law supercedes local contractual language, we will be proposing a new diagnostic assessment that will meet federal and state criteria while assisting both teachers and parents in reinforcing/supporting the specific diagnostic assessments of individual strengths and weaknesses. By tying the skills required to perform well on achievement tests to core curriculum standards research demonstrate that both student learning and achievement scores rise. Simply stated, teaching to the skills of the test is far different than teaching to the test itself.

* We will be analyzing curriculum and tests tied to core standards while preserving the individuality in teaching that has been a mark of excellence in Port schools. Once again, mandates at both the federal and state levels must be accounted for and I believe that our district can effectively adapt to the changes to our time and emerge as a leader. Finally, our schools are excellent schools and the perception and reality of excellence can only become one and the same when issues are addressed directly. We have an outstanding board of education, staff and community; together we will address the issue of assessment and resolve problems in the best interests of students.

In summary, thank you for your comments and very fair input. While I am now a 14-month "veteran" at Port, I hope that this full and complete picture both addresses that the fourth-grade test results of the past are not acceptable and what immediate and future actions are being taken. Our elementary principals, teachers and students do an excellent job and we will not permit a failure to adapt to change for unfairly placing them in an artificially low ranking.

If I can be of further assistance in this regard, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Geoffrey N. Gordon, Ed.D.

Superintendent of Schools