By Courtney Dentch
A Jamaica elementary school that pulled up its state test scores by double-digit margins is Queens’ most improved school, earning it an award from the state’s Business Council.
PS 82 at 88-02 144th St. in Jamaica was among just 24 of the state’s 2,900 elementary schools to win the Pathfinder Award for Outstanding Educational Improvement for lifting its reading and math scores on the state’s standardized tests for fourth-graders.
PS 66 in Richmond Hill was the only other school in Queens to win the award, which comes with a $1,000 check and a laptop computer.
“I feel like we’ve won the Academy Award for best school,” said PS 82 principal Jane Ginsberg.
PS 82, a K-5 school with about 730 students, won the annual award from the state Business Council after raising its fourth-grade reading scores by 20.5 percentage points, according to state test scores. In math, scores climbed by 12.7 points.
The scores represent a significant turnaround for the school, which was placed on the state’s corrective-action list in spring 2001. A spot on the list meant that the school had failed to meet academic goals for at least two consecutive years. If the school did not improve, it could have been placed under registration review or even closed.
But with the improved test scores, PS 82 now finds itself on another list, among the 209 schools exempt from the city’s uniformed curriculum. Because PS 82 is doing well, it will not have to adopt the standardized teaching plan which schools Chancellor Joel Klein wants to implement across the city.
Ginsberg attributed the improvement to a host of factors, including reduced class sizes, increased teacher training programs and new materials.
“It’s not one thing that you do to make it happen,” she said. “It’s a collaborative effort.”
Class size dropped from about 35 to 22 when the school began sending some students to new space in its annex. School District 28, which covers PS 82, also provides professional development for the staff’s many young teachers, Ginsberg said. And new books and teaching aids that were more in-line with the state standards helped teachers focus their lessons, she said.
The Pathfinder award, now in its third year, was created to honor improved performance in elementary schools as measured by state tests. A total of 24 schools was chosen statewide this year, eight of which were in New York City.
“Schools that make a commitment to improve provide a service not only to their own students, families and communities, but also to other schools that benefit from their experience and example,” said Business Council President Daniel Walsh. “New York’s most improved schools come from all kinds of cities, towns, neighborhoods, and financial circumstances — proving that improvement is within the reach of any school that decides to improve.”
The award also shows the students that their hard work studying for the tests was worth the effort.
“This is a wonderful moment for them,” Ginsberg said of her students. “Beyond their own individual accomplishments there’s the realization that as a school they achieved something.”
Reach reporter Courtney Dentch by e-mail at TimesLedger@aol.com, or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 138.
