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Schools

Long Beach Schools Pass the Test

New state report card shows district is in good standing, although certain areas were spotlighted for needed progress.

The Long Beach School District earned a passing grade in all four categories of the “overall accountability status” on its report card released by the New York State Education Department (NYSED) last Thursday.

The state summary is unpacked over two divisions: elementary/middle level and secondary level, with the former tested in science, the latter assessed by graduation rate, and both given the appropriate exams in English Language Arts (ELA) and mathematics.

Long Beach achieved across the board “adequate yearly progress” (AYP), a metric rating that “indicates satisfactory progress by a district or a school toward the goal of proficiency for all students,” according to the Accountability and Overview Report.

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However, when the two divisions are broken down further into sub-groups, mostly by ethnicity, students with disabilities at both levels did not make AYP in two subjects: mathematics at the secondary level and English Language Arts.

Further, the ELA department at Long Beach High School alone is designated with the status of “restructuring (year 1): focused,” which reflects responsibility for the district to make changes in order to climb back to good standing.

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“The K to 12 ELA curriculum is being redesigned all the way across so that students would be better prepared to take the most rigorous courses in eleventh and twelfth grade, and tackle the more rigorous ones in college,” said Dr. Vincent Butera, the district’s assistant superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction.

Butera has directed presentations on the ELA curriculum at the last three Board of Education meetings.

English Language Arts

Grade 2009-10 Percentage of Students Scoring at 3 or Higher Total Tested  2008-09 Percentage of Students Scoring at 3 or Higher Total Tested 3 71 percent 263 87 percent 254 4 76 percent 256 88 percent 293 5 64 percent 291 86 percent 280 6 67 percent 280 88 percent 281 7 64 percent 290 88 percent 261 8 62 percent 263 77 percent

308

 

Mathematics

Grade 2009-10 Percentage of Students Scoring at 3 or Higher Total Tested  2008-09 Percentage of Students Scoring at 3 or Higher Total Tested 3 74 percent 263 97 percent 255 4 81 percent 255 97 percent 294 5 71 percent 294 94 percent 282 6 68 percent 284 90 percent 281 7 71 percent 290 96 percent 260 8 61 percent 268 84 percent 311

Science

Grade 2009-10 Percentage of Students Scoring at 3 or Higher Total Tested  2008-09 Percentage of Students Scoring at 3 or Higher Total Tested 4 97 percent 255 98 percent 294 8 84 percent 267 84 percent 310

 

Secondary Level

Grade 2009-10 Percentage of Students Scoring at 3 or Higher Total Tested  2008-09 Percentage of Students Scoring at 3 or Higher Total Tested 4 84 percent 363 87 percent 312 8 83 percent 363 85 percent 312

Other Notable Statistics:

  • Long Beach's percentage of students scoring 3 and above were higher than state averages in all grades, or all three categories.
  • 63 percent of the teaching staff in the district have a Masters plus at least 30 more hours of credit or a doctorate.
  • The turnover rate has shot up to 33 percent from 17 percent for teachers with less than 5 years experience, but has remained steady over the past three tears, at 11 percent, 11 percent and 13 percent for teachers overall.
  • The number of teachers has declined, 378 to 366, since 2007-2008, but the number of classes has gone up from 1,418 to 1,436.
  • The attendance rate went up from 93 percent to 97 percent from 2006-07 to 2008-09.
  • The total enrollment in 2009-10 was 3,794.
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