By Tom Momberg
City Department of Education District 26 Superintendent Danielle Giunta went over some progress made last year as the overall highest performing district in the city, proposing to build upon that success starting a new year.
The Community District Education Council 26 held its monthly public meeting last week, which Giunta took as an opportunity to gear up teachers and parent leaders for another year of improvement.
For the 2014-15 school year, District 26 schools—in Bayside, Glen Oaks, Little Neck, Douglaston, Oakland Gardens, Bellerose and Floral Park—had the second-highest performance on state standardized English Language Arts exams in the city, and beat out every other district in the city on math exams.
“Year after year, this district is able to maintain the highest student achievement against ever-changing standards — not because we produce change in one year, but because we are constantly every year meeting, reaching for and exceeding our goals. It is a habit of our district,” Giunta said.
About 58.5 percent of District 26 students achieved a proficient score on their ELA exams, leading the borough, in which 35.4 percent of students scored proficient in reading and writing.
About 70.3 percent of District 26 students achieved a proficient score on their math exams, also leading Queens, in which 42.1 percent of students demonstrated a proficient level of understanding in mathematics.
The state Education Department also just released the accountability statuses of each school in the state for the upcoming 2015-16 school year, which are based on overall academic performance from the 2013-14 school year.
On that list, 20 of District 26’s 26 schools were named reward schools, which exhibit outstanding student achievement or growth over the previous three years. The other six schools still remained in good standing with SED. Only 365 schools across the state were designated as reward schools this year.
Reach reporter Tom Momberg by e-mail at tmomb
