District 20 testing scores soar

District 20 Superintendent Karina Costantino announced third through eighth grade 2012 Math and English Language Arts (ELA) testing scores at District 20’s Community Education Council monthly meeting on September 19 at P.S. 205 in Bensonhurst.

District 20 student scores are leaps and bounds ahead of the city and the borough in the city and statewide exams, although not all of them are passing grades. Students scoring 4 exceed proficiency standards; those who score 3 meet proficiency standards; students who score a 2 meet basic standards; and students who score a 1 are below standard, according to the New York State Department of Education.

“District 20 is keeping up with the bar being raised every year,” Costantino said. “Parental support helps us to hold our own in these times.”

The testing data was split up into three categories: all students, English Language Learners (ELL) and Students with Disabilities (SWD).

For the ELA exam, the percentage of all students scoring passing grades (3s and 4s) in District 20 in 2012 increased from 51.5 percent to 55.4 percent, which means that just over half the district’s students are passing the exam.

Citywide, the passing percentage increased from 43.9 percent to 46.9 percent. Boroughwide, the numbers rose from 43.7 percent to 46.7 percent.

The number of ELL students scoring 3s and 4s on the ELA exam increased from 11.6 percent to 13.4 percent this year. Although that means less than a quarter of ELL students are passing, the grades are better in District 20 than in the borough or the city overall.

In Brooklyn as a whole, ELL students’ passing scores barely increased from 12.5 percent to 12.6 percent. Citywide, the number of ELL students passing actually dropped from 12.4 percent to 11.6 percent.

“This group is all the more difficult,” Costantino commented. “They are coming to us at all levels.”

SWD in district 20 made a “substantial gain” this year. The percentage of students passing rose from 15.7 percent to 19.8 percent, which is “no easy accomplishment,” according to Costantino.

Borough-wide, SWD’s passing scores increased from 13.8 percent to 15.9 percent. Citywide, the percentages also increased from 14.2 percent to 15.8 percent.

Math scores were much more impressive. The percentage of all students scoring 3s and 4s on the math exam rose from 71.3 percent to 74.4 percent, which is about 25 percent better than the rest of the city

Citywide, the passing percentage on standardized math tests increased from 57.3 percent to 60 percent. Across Brooklyn, the percentage rose from 56.5 percent to 59.6 percent.

For ELL students, who “normally do better at math,” according to Costantino, the percentage of passing grades increased from 50 percent to 53.8 percent. Citywide, the number of passing grades among ELL students rose from 35.4 percent to 37 percent. Borough wide, that same percentage rose from 37.5 percent to 40.5 percent.

SWD also made “a nice jump,” said Costantino. The percentage of passing grades jumped from 35.4 percent to 42.1 percent. For students across the city, the percentage of 3s and 4s increased from 27.3 percent to 30.2 percent. The percentage for Brooklyn students also rose from 25.8 percent to 30.4 percent.

For all scores, visit http://schools.nyc.gov/Accountability/data/TestResults/ELAandMathTestResults.