By Courtney Dentch
About 240 students in Jamaica's District 28 are facing the same fate. That district came in with the fourth-highest number of failing students, according to statistics reported by the Department of Education.
Students earning the lowest grade of Level 1 on the city reading or math tests were slated to be held back, pending an automatic appeals process, as part of the social promotion policy imposed by Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Chancellor Joel Klein to ensure students are successful as they move ahead in school.
The tests are scored on a scale of Level 1 through Level 4, with 1 counting as a failing mark and 4 as the highest performance category.
More than 3,500 third-graders in District 27 took the tests, and 484, or 13.6 percent, failed either the reading or math test or both, according to the statistics. In District 28, nearly 2,500 students were tested and 243, or 9.8 percent, failed.
School District 27 covers Ozone Park, Woodhaven, Howard Beach and the Rockaways, while District 28 encompasses Briarwood, Jamaica, Forest Hills and Rego Park.
Yet the districts both showed strong improvement in the Level 3 and 4 categories. District 27 was reported to be one of the most improved in the city with a 3.4 percent increase over last year's results, meaning 44.7 percent of students earned one of the higher marks.
“Our district is one of the most improved in the city in the third grade,” said Steven Greenberg, president of School Board 27. “It's thanks to the hard work of all the educators in the district.”
District 28 followed close behind, with 54.8 percent of students earning high test scores, an increase of 3.3 percent over last year, according to the statistics.
Representatives from District 28 did not return calls seeking comment.
The schools also fared well on the eighth-grade state reading tests. District 27 reported a 9.5 percent increase in students earning a 3 or 4 over last year, to 35.7 percent. District 28 saw a 6.8 percent increase to 47.8 percent, the statistics showed.
Scores for the state reading tests, taken in February, were released to the public three weeks ago, when administrators at each school also received results from the city's third-grade reading and math exams, a factor in deciding which students are promoted to the next grade level.
Teachers and principals were still reviewing portfolios on third-grade students who failed either the city reading or math tests to determine whether their other class work is sufficient enough to carry them through to the next grade.
Students may also go to summer school and retake the test to move ahead to fourth grade, said Donna Caltabiano, a School Board 27 member.
“We're all offering summer programs,” she said of her district and others throughout Queens. “Hopefully, that will give them the little boost some of them needed. It's good that we have that program.”
Once administrators decide who to promote, schools will still have to make room for those students who are being held back in third grade. With an average of 16 students per school in District 27 facing another year in third grade and an average of 11 students per District 28 school, some facilities may have trouble accommodating the students in their already overcrowded classes.
But Caltabiano said the schools should be able to make room.
“Between lower class sizes and opening new school buildings, I think we can handle it,” she said. “The kids are there anyway. They're not new kids coming into building.”
Despite the pressure the third-grade students faced as they approached the test, Board 27 leaders agree with the social promotion policy, they said.
“I believe that we have failed our students for too many years in allowing them to fail and then pushing them forward,” said Steven Greenberg, president of School Board 27. “We need some kind of standard. By the time the kid reaches sixth or seventh grade, if they can't read it's a little late.”
Reach reporter Courtney Dentch by e-mail at news@timesledger.com, or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 138.
