District 20 surpasses itself, rest of city in standardized test scores

Despite an ongoing battle with overcrowding, District 20 elementary and middle schools have out-scored the city on the 2015 Common Core-aligned State English Language Arts (ELA) and math exams, according to results released by the Department of Education on Wednesday, August 12.

According to the numbers, the district – made up of parts of Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights, Sunset Park, Bensonhurst and Borough Park – on average scored much higher than the rest of the city in math, with 55 percent of students, grades three through eight, coming in at or above grade level.

Perhaps more important, according to Community Education Council 20 President Laurie Windsor, is that District 20 out-scored District 20.

That number is up from 47.9 percent in 2013.

“We went up from last year, and that’s always a good thing,” said Windsor. “We’ve certainly made progress.”

Similarly, on the ELA exam, 41.3 percent of students tested in 2015 met or exceeded standards, up from 36.1 percent in 2013.

“Comparatively to the city and state, we did much better,” lauded Windsor, “so, in terms of own progress, that’s really showing.”

Citywide, the mean scale ELA exam score was 298 (District 20’s mean score being 307), and the mean scale math exam score was 302 (District 20 boasting a mean score of 320).

Still, Windsor said, there is always another battle to fight.

“We’re moving in the right direction but there is always more work to be done,” she said, “but it is evident that we’ve made progress – especially with the new Common Core.”

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